In The Line Of Bite: A Guide To Protecting Yourself From Mosquitoes In Tampa

Health Risks Of Mosquito Bites: Warning Signs To Watch For

Are mosquitoes dangerous? Most of the time, no. You can get a lot of bites and never get a serious mosquito-borne disease. But that doesn't mean you won't get sick. The diseases spread by mosquitoes feel like the flu or common cold. One helpful warning sign that a mosquito made you sick is a headache. The reason is that the most common and serious mosquito diseases that are localized in the United States, like West Nile virus and EEE, are diseases that cause encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain. As you can imagine, that can cause a headache. It can also be serious, so take precautions and seek medical attention if you've gotten mosquito bites and are sick with cold symptoms and a headache.

The vast majority of bites you get will only result in itchy wounds. Some mosquito species aren't able to transmit diseases to people, but they still bite. The mosquitoes that are able to transmit harmful diseases may not be infected. And, even if you do contract a serious mosquito-borne virus, you may demonstrate no symptoms, referred to as being asymptomatic. Someone who is asymptomatic is still a carrier of the disease, and mosquitoes can get the disease from them. Viruses like the Zika virus spread quickly because they have a high rate of asymptomatic response.

It is generally a good idea to avoid bites, even if you don't get sick. Mosquito bites are miserable because our bodies use histamine to protect us, and histamine causes itching, inflammation, and a rash. Let's look at a few more ways you can avoid mosquito bites.

Mosquito Bite Prevention: How to Protect Yourself From Bites

We talked about personal protection, but, as we pointed out, it isn't easy to deter female mosquitoes from their goal of reproduction. The best mosquito prevention is to reduce the number of mosquitoes trying to bite you. While you have no control over this while away from your home, there are many ways to reduce mosquitoes in your yard.

Here are some suggestions.

• Pour out any stagnant water sources you discover in your yard, particularly if there are little, wriggly baby mosquitoes in the water. It takes a week and a half for mosquitoes to develop into the flying pests that bite you. When you pour them out, they dry out on the ground. No more mosquito swarms!
• Address conditions that cause standing water, such as a clogged gutter or overgrown vegetation in your landscaping.
• Remove objects from your yard that act as containers. Anything that can hold rainwater for a week and a half is a potential breeding location for mosquitoes. Bear in mind that a mosquito only needs one inch of water, so even a bottle cap can provide a breeding site.
• If you have a birdbath or some other stagnant water source, consider installing a circulation pump to get the water moving. Mosquitoes need stagnant water because their larvae feed on organisms, such as protozoa, bacteria, and algae, which require water that is not moving.

These simple steps can have more of an impact than you might think. Analyze your yard, consider potential breeding sites, and get rid of them. If you prevent even one female mosquito from laying her eggs in your yard, you'll avoid a swarm of around a hundred mosquitoes that would come from her first batch of eggs.