In the article presented to your attention, we will talk about ectoparasites. Blood of warm-blooded animals is a natural food for designated representatives of wildlife.
Blood-sucking insects are designed in such a way that, depending on the conditions of existence, they look for an object to attack by the smell of skin secretions, by body temperature or by appearance.
We meet with bloodsucking insects both outside the house and on the street: in the forest we are attacked by vultures - mosquitoes, midges, ticks, gadflies and horseflies, and at home - bugs, lice and fleas.
In this material, we tried to illuminate in detail and in detail the means of protection against blood-sucking insects, to talk about the danger our health is exposed to if we ignore dangerous parasites or demonstrate resistance to their bites.
Itching, which is caused by bites of blood-sucking insects, is explained by the presence in their saliva of special enzymes that thin the blood and prevent it from clotting. In some people, it provokes allergic reactions, even death. Most often, the bite site swells and itches, that is, itches.
Blood-sucking insects often become carriers of dangerous diseases - plague, encephalitis, typhoid fever, malaria and others.
Protection against bloodsucking in nature
Going in the summer to a forest or to a lake, you must always carry a bottle of a means that repels the vile. Generally called a gnome all dipterous blood-sucking insects that live among grass, trees and shrubs.
Pharmacies present a wide range of the most diverse and effective insecticides and repellents that repel blood-sucking insects, for example, the long-established and highly proven DETA, Repekul, Benzftalat, Taiga, Benzimin, Solarol and others. They are available in the form of aerosols, ointments, emulsions and lotions. However, the effect of all drugs is short-lived. After about an hour, depending on various factors, the smell weakens, and the insects begin to attack again. The difference between insecticides and repellents is that the former destroy insects and are extremely toxic, while the latter only repel the vulture.
Despite the fact that chemicals are very convenient and effective, not all of them are equally safe - most of them contain dimethyl phthalate poison. For young children and pregnant women, this substance is strictly contraindicated. This category of people is better to use natural oils of clove, camphor, anise or lavender.
The smell of vanilla versus sinus
The sweet and delicate aroma of vanilla is pleasant to our sense of smell, but it is completely intolerable by a mean. Prepare a vanilla solution and pour it into a spray bottle. From time to time spray liquid on yourself and on the child, and no dipterans will encroach on you.
Even synthetic vanillin, sold at grocery stores in the spice department for baking, will do. Dissolve one bag in hot water and pour into a bottle. It is very simple and convenient.
You can make a solution of natural vanilla. To do this, cut the pod and scrape the seeds together with the internal pulp. Then put the seeds with pulp in boiling water and put in a water bath. After half an hour, remove from heat and put in a warm place for insisting. After two hours, the solution will be ready for use. A glass of water requires 6-8 pods. The disadvantage of this tool is its color - it is very dark and leaves marks on clothes. This infusion is recommended for adding to the bath while bathing the baby. A kid who smells of vanilla can sleep peacefully in a stroller on the balcony or in the garden — mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects will not even fly up to him, not that they bite.
Mokrets
These tiny vampires are carriers of tularemia, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever and filariasis. The midge is the smallest (from 1 to 4 mm) of the blood-sucking insects found in Russian latitudes. Especially a lot of them in the taiga forests and tundra. There were times when small midges stuck to the death of a slightly tipsy person asleep among the trees.
Warm-blooded blood is food for sexually mature females. Since all phases of the development of biting midges are carried out in water, it is most likely that they will be the victim of bites from those who are near fresh water bodies with stagnant water.
Repellents and vegetable oils with a strong and pungent aroma repel midges very effectively. Choosing a prey, biting midges focus on the smell of skin secretions.
The bite of these blood-sucking representatives is rather painful, as midges do not pierce the skin, as mosquitoes do with a long proboscis, but bite through jaws, which look like two sharp stilettos.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes all stages of development, except adults, pass in the fresh water of lakes, ponds and swamps. In moist forests and tundra there is no other escape from them than repellents and protective mosquito nets. Interestingly, the mosquito feeds on the blood of a person, and not the male mosquito. The mosquito, that is, the female, drinks blood for reproductive function, the male receives food only from the juice of plants.
Essential oils of cloves, anise and camphor scare away all bloodsucking, including mosquitoes. You can make a mixture of several different oils. This will result in excellent and safe protection against mosquitoes and other bloodsuckers hunting nearby.
Going out into the nature, do not forget to take a bottle of the mixture with you to use several times. As we said above, after an hour or less, the smell applied to the skin weakens, and flying blood-sucking insects start an attack again.
Female mosquitoes make a characteristic subtle sound. When there are especially many mosquitoes, a continuous rumble is heard in the air. They are especially fierce in hot weather before rain. Bites quickly become inflamed, and the skin swells. No matter how the wound itches, you can not comb it - it will only scratch it even more, and blood poisoning can occur. The pharmacy Psilo-Balsam, Fenistil and butadione ointment, as well as an aqueous solution of baking soda, quickly help relieve irritation.
Mosquitoes are active mainly from May to October, but it happens that the mosquito family settles in the warm and moist basements of residential buildings. Then from their squeak and bites there is no salvation in the winter.
If the midge lives no longer than three dozen days, then mosquitoes born at the end of summer, after 1-2 months, with the onset of cold weather, fall into diapause, from which they emerge with the onset of heat.
As for diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, these are some types of encephalitis, malaria, dengue, yellow fever and lymphatic filariasis. The most dangerous in this regard are females who have undergone diapause.
Long-term protection against mosquitoes is, first of all, the elimination of foci of their reproduction, located near human housing. Such measures include: drainage of small stagnant ponds and marshes, maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in the basement, the active use of insecticides.
Fighting blood-sucking insects is also possible using environmentally friendly methods, in particular, populating ponds with fish gambusia that feeds on mosquito larvae, planting eucalyptus trees along the banks and breeding certain types of gram-positive, spore-forming soil bacteria, which are insecticidal food of mosquito, midge and mosquito larvae.
Horsefly and Gadfly
Measures of protection against horseflies and gadflies are the same as from any vulture. The same repellents, the same ointments and aromas.
Horsefly bite is very painful and allergenic. Quickly remove the swelling and itching with an aqueous solution of baking soda.
Another good remedy for the effects of bites is a chatterbox of glycerin, alcohol iodine and ammonia. It is necessary to mix 40 g of iodine and alcohol, add 60 g of glycerin and shake. When the mixture is discolored, the swelling and itching drug is ready. It will not scare off the insect, but it will alleviate the state of the bitten and neutralize the effect of the anticoagulant injected into the wound. Shake the bottle before application, as glycerin tends to exfoliate and sink to the bottom.
Gadfly, unlike horseflies, do not drink blood, but lay eggs under the skin of warm-blooded animals. Having gnawed a small hole, the female lays eggs in it, from which larvae feed on the blood and tissues of the mammal. Fortunately, on the territory of our country, gadflies that attack a person are not so common. Our gadgets are more dangerous for livestock - sheep, goats, cows, etc. A well-fed and healthy animal is rarely bitten. As a rule, gadflies attack weak and sick individuals when they descend to a pond to drink water, or sleep in the open air.
Horseflies infect animals with tularemia and anthrax, and gadflies with miases.
Gadfly and horsefly can not tolerate the smell of birch tar, black elderberry, anise, cloves and kerosene.
Deer fly
A deer fly, it is also a moose fly, a bloodsucker fly, a deer tick, a moose louse and a moose tick. The population of this bloodsucker is directly related to the number of deer and elk, although it parasitizes not only on them, but also on smaller animals - foxes, badgers, dogs and others, even birds. She does not shun human blood. In our country, the bloodsucker fly prefers European regions to the Urals. It is she who carries such a dangerous cattle disease as anthrax.
Reindeer flies are chosen, focusing on movement. Attack only adults. Small children can not be afraid of them. The hunting season is autumn, and only when the weather is dry and calm.
The bloodsucker remains a fly until it grabs its prickly legs in the victim’s skin. Immediately after that, she drops her wings and becomes like a tick. It is very difficult to tear it from the body, but it is necessary to do this, because after one individual a representative of the opposite sex flies in to settle on the found victim and lay eggs. The first 30-60 minutes, blood-sucking insects crawl, looking for the most secluded place with close blood vessels, and only after that they start a meal.
Bites of a bloodsucker fly are invisible, but they are sharp and painful, and itching appears only on the second day. At the same time, a small hard papule appears on the affected area, which lasts for two to three weeks.
The best protection against bloodsucker flies is special clothing with a hat, as well as appropriate repellents.
Mite
Especially dangerous for residents of most regions of Russia are forest ticks. Although their bites are not painful, they are carriers of a mass of serious ailments - Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever and borreliosis.
The activity of insects is sharply increased from the end of spring to the beginning of hot summer days and in the fall until frost.
Ticks hide in tall grass and jump on clothes. They move from bottom to top, looking for open areas of the body, so trousers should be tucked into socks, and the shirt should be tucked in by the belt. Long sleeves and a collar should be fastened, and on a head - a scarf or a hood, and it is better both that, and another.
Noticing a tick is not easy. It is very small - up to 2 mm, but on bright clothes it is clearly visible as a black speck.
Going into the forest, it is necessary to treat the skin and clothing with a special repellent against ticks, and then, after about an hour, repeat the procedure.
Returning home, it is advisable to immediately examine yourself. Favorite places for insects are behind the ears, in the groin, under the armpits and on the back of the head.
If a tick is found, it is required to remove it as soon as possible without tearing off its head. It is the salivary glands that contain the causative bacteria.
They pull the tick with special tweezers or a thread loop.
Currently, forests and places of popular recreation are treated with special means against ticks before the start of the summer season, therefore, going to nature, try to stay close to places equipped for tourists to relax, and do not walk far from the laid paths.
Ticks annoy not only people, but also animals. After each walk, carefully inspect your pets for ticks. Against the attack of blood-sucking animals on the withers and along the spine, several drops of the Bars universal remedy are applied. From fleas and ticks, it is considered one of the best.
Popular folk remedies for home bloodsuckers
In residential buildings, the following representatives of blood-sucking insects are found: bed bugs, lice and fleas. Note that it is quite difficult to get rid of these parasites.
Firstly, because they are most active at night and attack unnoticed, most often when a person is sleeping.
Secondly, because they are very small and have a protective color.
Thirdly, they are designed by nature itself so that without a person or his warm-blooded pet (cats, dogs, budgerigars, etc.) they cannot exist - the instinct of procreation pushes them to a human dwelling.
Fourthly, some of them can live in basements and attics, entering the apartment only to drink blood, and then get away.
Hence the conclusion - to defeat bugs, fleas and lice is extremely difficult. It is simpler and more correct to prevent their appearance in the apartment at all. How to do it?
From time immemorial, our ancestors used various herbs that repel insects. The smell of rosemary, wormwood, tansy, chamomile, lavender is hateful to parasites, so they advised to lay flowers, leaves and branches of these plants under sheets and mattresses.
The hygiene of the home was maintained by adding natural or synthetic vinegar, salt, decoctions of herbs to the water for dusting.
They even practiced house charms and other ritual rituals, for example, collecting harmful insects that settled in the house and throwing them into a coffin to the deceased or on an ice floe during freezing. It was believed that, after the brethren, the remaining domestic blood-sucking insects would leave their home.
Bed bug
With regard to the spread of any disease, bed bugs are beyond suspicion. However, they should be feared because of the great discomfort that they create for people living in their chosen territory. Adult bugs and their larvae feed on human blood. They do not encroach on animals, as thick hair prevents them from getting close to the skin. Most at risk are small children, if any, in the house. If they are not, then everyone else. It all depends on the size of the bug population and their appetite.
During the night, the bug eats repeatedly. It creeps on a person’s body, leaving characteristic paths from bites. After the anticoagulant injected by him ceases to act, the wounds begin to itch.
With the onset of morning, the bug hides at the junction of furniture parts, in bedding, books, slots of electrical appliances and other hard-to-reach spots.
If you do not know what the bugs look like, you may not notice them. These insects look like brown flat peas. The photo shows how the bugs look, but this is a strong increase. Their real size is up to 4 mm. To understand that this is an insect, and not just a dirty stain, is very difficult. Neither his head nor his legs are visible. A blood-saturated bug is greatly increased in size.
Getting rid of bed bugs is difficult. Even leaving the apartment for a long time is unlikely to help, since these bloodsuckers are able to fall into suspended animation for several months and wake up with the return of the owners.
Natural cockroaches are considered natural enemies of bedbugs, but then it’s up to you to decide whether or not to get them.
In order for the bedbugs not to settle in the apartment, it is necessary to observe strict hygiene of the house - regularly carry out wet cleaning, vacuuming, boiling and ironing the bedding, as bedbugs like to lay eggs in the folds of sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases and mattresses. In cupboards and beds, it is advisable to lay out fresh herbs every year - ledum, wormwood, tansy, calamus, wheatgrass roots and chamomile feverfew. If at least one bug is found, all items in the room should be treated as soon as possible with ammonia, vinegar, turpentine, kerosene, acetone or methylated spirits. Domestic blood-sucking insects cannot stand these odors. Also, they do not tolerate sunlight, so try to take pillows and mattresses to the balcony more often in the summer. If at least one bug has appeared, then with such an assault he will not linger in your house and all the more so leave offspring, and he will look for another, more peaceful refuge.
Bedbugs fall into apartments along with furniture, books, things brought from vacation, etc. If there were bedbugs in the hotel, then it is likely that they will crawl into suitcases and bags. In addition, bedbugs enter apartments and through ventilation openings.
Lice
You can catch lice in any public place - on the bus, on the train, at work, in a hotel, etc. However, getting rid of these bloodsuckers is not as difficult as getting bugs or fleas.
Three types of ectoparasites - head, pubic (ploschita) and body louse, cannot live without a person and without his blood. A few days of starvation are enough, and adults die. Another thing is their larvae, nits. They may not pass into the adult stage within a month, but under favorable conditions they turn into adults in 5 days.
Lice, or pediculosis, is a disease of the poor, the so-called social. The reason is that lice is a consequence of non-compliance with personal hygiene rules. Dirty clothes worn without a change, an unclean body are two factors that contribute to the development of head lice. The epidemics of typhus and relapsing fever are caused precisely by lice that carried infected blood from infected people to healthy people.
Adult lice (a photo of it in front of you) does not happen more than 4 mm. Nits are 4 times smaller. Nits are attached to the hair or villi of the tissue.
Lice and their larvae cannot tolerate temperatures below -22 degrees Celsius and above +44, so they are taken out of clothes by boiling or ironing with a hot iron.
From the hair of lice, they are removed both by folk and pharmacy means. “Spinosad” is recommended for young children from 4 years old, “Ivermectin” and “Permethrin” are shown to adults. The last two destroy not only lice, but also other ectoparasites, including fleas.
The pubic, body and head lice parasitic on humans (a photo of hair infected with nits is presented in our article) do not contact domestic and wild animals and cannot hide as skillfully as a bug. In isolation from a person, she quickly dies, therefore, getting rid of pediculosis is quite simple.
Folk remedies include: wrapping the head with a mixture of kerosene and any oil in a ratio of 1: 1; cranberry juice, which kills lice and dissolves the shells of nits; tar soap; garlic juice; hellebore tincture; vinegar and others. The product must be kept on the hair for at least half an hour, and then rinse and rinse the hair with vinegar (50 ml per 1 liter of water). Then you need to comb out the nits with a frequent comb. After a week, repeat the procedure.
Against infection with pediculosis, lavender and tea tree oils help (blood-sucking insects do not tolerate their smell). It is enough to apply a few drops to the skin behind the ears, and lice will not want to drink your blood.
Flea
Fleas can infect us with more than 20 diseases, including plague, tularemia, typhoid and hepatitis. The carriers of pathogens are primarily rats. Also dangerous are domestic dogs and cats that bring fleas from the street. If birds live in the attic of a house, then they can become sources of infection.
It is not easy to spot a flea: it is very small (1-2 mm) and has the ability to jump instantly and far.
You can get rid of fleas by restricting their penetration into the house. If a dog or cat goes outside, then a special anti-flea collar should be worn on it. Bars is also effective. From the fleas of your pet, and, consequently, a few drops applied to the withers of the animal will protect you.
Chemicals against bloodsucker insects
Currently, insecticides are sold in pharmacies that successfully destroy bugs, fleas and lice - “Chlorofos”, “Dichlofos”, “Metaphos”, “Karbofos”, “Raptor”, “Delta ...” or “Lambda Zone”, “Combat” , "Executioner", "Sinuzan" and others. They sprayed or fumigated the entire room. Access to free air during processing should be blocked. There should not be people in the room for at least a couple of days, since all of the drugs listed are very toxic.
If it is impossible to independently destroy the proliferated parasites, it is recommended to take the help of specialists from sanitary and epidemiological stations, which are in every city.