Moore Emily Lucille, Scott Mary Alice, Rodriguez Stacy Deadra, Mitra Soumi, Vulcan Julia, Cordova Joel Javierla, Chung Hae-Na, Linhares Lino de Souza Debora, Gonzales Kristina Kay, Hansen Immo Alex
Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, United States of America.
Department of Anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2018 Jul 3;6:e5151. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5151. eCollection 2018.
Mosquito repellents can be an effective method for personal protection against mosquito bites that are a nuisance and carry the risk of transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens like , dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and Zika virus. A multitude of commercially available products are currently on the market, some of them highly effective while others have low or no efficacy. Many home remedies of unknown efficacy are also widely used.
We conducted a survey study to determine what kind of mosquito repellents and other mosquito control strategies people use. Our online survey was focused on unconventional methods and was answered by 5,209 participants.
The majority of participants resided in the United States, were female (67%), had higher education (81% had a university degree), and were 18 to 37 years old (50%). The most commonly used repellent was DEET spray (48%), followed closely by citronella candles (43%) and 'natural' repellent sprays (36%). We collected a plethora of home remedies and other strategies people use that warrant further research into their effectiveness.
Our study lays the foundation for future research in alternative, unconventional methods to repel mosquitoes that may be culturally acceptable and accessible for people.
驱蚊剂是一种有效的个人防蚊方法，蚊虫叮咬不仅令人讨厌，还可能传播蚊媒病原体，如登革病毒、基孔肯雅病毒和寨卡病毒。目前市场上有多种商用驱蚊产品，有些效果显著，而有些则效果不佳或根本无效。许多疗效不明的家庭疗法也被广泛使用。
我们进行了一项调查研究，以确定人们使用何种驱蚊剂及其他蚊虫控制策略。我们的在线调查聚焦于非常规方法，共有5209名参与者作答。
大多数参与者居住在美国，女性占67%，受过高等教育（81%拥有大学学位），年龄在18至37岁之间（占50%）。最常用的驱蚊剂是避蚊胺喷雾（48%），紧随其后的是香茅蜡烛（43%）和“天然”驱蚊喷雾（36%）。我们收集了大量人们使用的家庭疗法及其他策略，这些都值得进一步研究其有效性。
我们的研究为未来探索替代的、非常规的驱蚊方法奠定了基础，这些方法可能在文化上更容易被人们接受且便于使用。
