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Most Americans know mosquitoes cause disease, but few know how to use bug spray properly, survey finds
News briefToday at 3:19 p.m.
Liz Szabo, MA
Topics
Dengue
West Nile
Although more than eight in 10 adults know that avoiding mosquito bites is the best way to avoid West Nile virus and dengue fever, far fewer know how to select and correctly apply insect repellent, a new national survey shows.
Nearly two-thirds say they try to prevent mosquito bites through methods such as wearing bug spray or long-sleeved shirts when outdoors, removing standing water from around the home, and maintaining window screens, according to an Annenberg Science and Public Health survey published yesterday.
But respondents were uncertain about how to use sunscreen and insect repellent together.
Only one-third of respondents knew that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends applying sunscreen first, letting it dry, then applying bug spray, according to the survey of 1,904 adults, conducted August 4 to August 17. Only 18% know to choose insect repellent registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And just 15% know not to apply mosquito repellent to skin under clothing.
The survey found 53% know that insect repellent should not be used on babies younger than 2 months old.
Only 16% of adults worry that they or someone in their family will contract West Nile or dengue in the next three months.
EPA-registered insect repellents recommended
The CDC has reported 504 human infections with West Nile Virus as of September 8. There also have been 1,404 cases of dengue fever in people infected locally, rather than through travel.The CDC recommends EPA-registered insect repellents with active ingredients such as DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone. The CDC notes that concentrations above 50% DEET do not provide additional protection against mosquito bites.
The margin of sampling error for the survey is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak spreads to 7th province as cases, deaths mount
News briefToday at 2:35 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
Ebola
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to a seventh province as cases rise to 6,843, including 3,310 deaths, according to media reports today.
The newly affected province, Sud-Ubangi, is in the northwestern DRC, on the border with the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville. A male Ebola patient who became ill in Tshopo province died in Sud-Ubangi after traveling through Rwanda and Uganda and across several provinces, some of them which have not reported cases, Acting Sud-Ubangi Governor Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe told reporters yesterday.
The deceased man also traveled by boat on the Congo River in Mongala province, where he was in a health center for two days before being transferred to Sud-Ubangi.
“The route taken both by the patient and by the boat exposes the population" of the provinces of North-Ubangi, Tshopo, and Mongala," Galekwa said. "Thirty-eight people have been identified as having been in contact with the patient and have been placed in quarantine.”
Infections more than double in North Kivu province
At a media briefing yesterday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned that the outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond the epicenter. While new cases and deaths have declined in recent weeks in hard-hit Ituri province, where the outbreak originated, they have risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele.The route taken both by the patient and by the boat exposes the population" of the provinces of North-Ubangi, Tshopo, and Mongala.
Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe
In North Kivu, new infections more than doubled, to 381, in recent weeks, Africa CDC said. It has now reached two more health zones in that province, where armed conflict has made the public health response more difficult.
The DRC outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, is the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak. In addition to Sud-Ubangi, North Kivu, Ituri, and Haut-Uele, Ebola has also been identified in South Kivu, Bas-Uele, and Tshopo.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, for which no approved vaccines or treatments are available, although some are being tested. The DRC has begun vaccinating front-line workers with the Ervebo vaccine, which targets the Zaire Ebola virus, but supplies of the vaccine are limited.
Quick takes: Cyclospora outbreak over, possible dengue death in Florida, US rabies alert, new polio cases
News briefToday at 2:32 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
Cyclospora
Dengue
Rabies
Polio
Foodborne Disease
- Today, citing a steep decline in cases, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared an end to the massive lettuce-related outbreak of Cyclospora but announced that its investigation will continue. “While the outbreak is over, FDA continues the outbreak investigation of Cyclospora infections linked to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and recalled by Taylor Farms de Mexico,” the agency said. Starting in July, 12,883 people in 21 states were sickened by the parasite, 570 were hospitalized, and two died. The contaminated lettuce was recalled on July 17, and the last date of symptom onset was August 17.
- The Florida Department of Health is investigating whether a woman in Hillsborough County died of dengue. Hillsborough, home to Tampa, is in the west-central part of Florida. Officials cited privacy concerns in declining to provide details of the death, which media reports said occurred in an 80-year-old woman. Last week, Florida Health logged 38 more locally acquired cases of the mosquito-borne illness, for a total of 111 infections in six counties. Another 109 travel-related dengue cases have been reported this year.
- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network advisory yesterday about a nationwide increase in reported animal rabies cases and related exposures in people this summer. “CDC urges clinicians to conduct careful, evidence-based rabies risk assessments and follow current ACIP recommendations when post-exposure vaccination or treatment is indicated,” the alert said. The public should avoid contact with sick animals and wildlife and promptly seek medical care after bites or scratches, the CDC said.
- Today, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reported 15 new polio cases in three countries. Afghanistan logged four cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), the Democratic Republic of Congo documented five cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases, and Nigeria reported one cVDPV2 infection.