Insect Repellents

Date: July 12, 2021
Issue #: 
1628Summary: 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) recommend using insect repellents to prevent
infections transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks.
Insect repellents applied to exposed skin should be
used in conjunction with other preventive measures
such as wearing pants and long-sleeved shirts and
avoiding outdoor activities during peak mosquito-biting
times. Mosquitoes can transmit diseasecausing
pathogens, including Zika, chikungunya,
dengue, West Nile, eastern equine encephalitis, and
yellow fever viruses, and the malaria parasite. Ticks
can transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease,
the rickettsia that cause Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, and viruses such as Powassan virus. Some
insect repellents containing EPA-registered active
ingredients are listed in Table 1.

Source: The Medical Letter - June 1, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: admin Tags: Deet Dengue icaridin Insect repellents Lyme disease Malaria nootkatone Permethrin Picaridin Zika Source Type: research