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. 2018 Jul 3:6:e5151.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.5151. eCollection 2018.

An online survey of personal mosquito-repellent strategies

Emily Lucille Moore  1 , Mary Alice Scott  2 , Stacy Deadra Rodriguez  1 , Soumi Mitra  1 , Julia Vulcan  1 , Joel Javierla Cordova  1 , Hae-Na Chung  1 , Debora Linhares Lino de Souza  3 , Kristina Kay Gonzales  1 , Immo Alex Hansen  1   4
Affiliations

An online survey of personal mosquito-repellent strategies

Emily Lucille Moore et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: Mosquito repellents can be an effective method for personal protection against mosquito bites that are a nuisance and carry the risk of transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens like plasmodia, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and Zika virus. A multitude of commercially available products are currently on the market, some of them highly effective while others have low or no efficacy. Many home remedies of unknown efficacy are also widely used.

Methods: We conducted a survey study to determine what kind of mosquito repellents and other mosquito control strategies people use. Our online survey was focused on unconventional methods and was answered by 5,209 participants.

Results: The majority of participants resided in the United States, were female (67%), had higher education (81% had a university degree), and were 18 to 37 years old (50%). The most commonly used repellent was DEET spray (48%), followed closely by citronella candles (43%) and 'natural' repellent sprays (36%). We collected a plethora of home remedies and other strategies people use that warrant further research into their effectiveness.

Discussion: Our study lays the foundation for future research in alternative, unconventional methods to repel mosquitoes that may be culturally acceptable and accessible for people.

Keywords: Mosquito; Repellents; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Demographics of study participants.
(A) Gender of participants. (B) Age of participants in years. (C) Educational level of study participants.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Commonly used mosquito repellent methods.
The number of each response from one of the multiple choice questions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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