Question:
i would like to ask a question please. years ago before travelling to
bali i took what i think was B1 tablets for a few weeks beforehand - and
i did not get bitten by mosquitos when i went on my trip. (mosquitos
love me unfortunately). I returned to bali two years ago, had not had
this particular vitamin beforehand this trip and got bitten every nite
all over my body .....so i was wondering, is the Vitamin I took the
first time B1?
Answer:
Recent evidence indicates the presence of carbon dioxide as the main
attractant to mosquitos. Garlic is supposed to be effective for pets to
dissuade fleas and ticks, but from personal experience it only dissuades
other people.
On an 8 day jaunt in the mountains, 8 of us used different supposed
deterrents. Each of two groups of 4 on different 2 day schedules used
B1, Avon, DEET, and a homeopathic herbal concoction that was 'guaranteed
to work'. Nobody volunteered for the control group. DEET (even in very
small amounts) did an admirable job of keeping the critters away. The
other brews (except for the B1 team) had the major affect of making the
user smell better. The swarms of mosquitos were at times concentrated.
A clap of two hands just in front of ones face would at times produce
5-10 mosquitos flattened on the palms and fingers. The swarms were
there after calibrated by the number of unfortunate bugs evident in a
clap.
The B1 team started their dosage three days prior to the trip and
continued in the study until driven to DEET on the 3th day. It did
'seem' that they could do with less DEET than the others. The
discussion migrated to perhaps the combination of B1 and DEET was better
than just DEET alone. I suspect it was more of a personal preference
rather than a clinical one.
That may be the frontal assault taken on this year's trip.
Unfortunately we can't find a team member that will go on B1 only,
again.
I have several friends who are taking therapeutic doses of niacin
daily. Doesn't seem to work any better than Avon to keep the mosquito
at bay. So they scratch that B vit
