Some Help after surgery

[phurst]

She just got home after a masectomy and the removal of all the axillary lymphnodes on the left side.Any suggestions of how to deal with someone who is alergic to bee stings and seems to attrack mosquito's.We live in N.C. where we have lots in the summer.The only thing i can think of is to wear something to cover up when she goes outside.Any help would be appreciated.

[Merridith]

I would just do what you normally do to repel insects. If things are really bad, you can order a bug veil off of ebay. That's what I used to wear in the Yukon during bug season.

If you want to go really nuts you can order a whole bug suit - but it's pretty pricey. It essentially looks like a light-weight mosquito mesh in the shape of a jacket (with matching pants if you want!) that you can throw on over your top.

How about using it as an excuse to rent a holiday home in a bug-free zone in a different state for a month?

Regards,
Merridith

[SoCalGal]

<table summary=" " border="0" height="55" width="93%"><tbody><tr><td height="49" width="63%">http://www.jhu.edu/shcenter/mosquitobites.html






Repelling Mosquito Bites

Are you using the right insect repellent?

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Insect repellents containing the chemical DEET (also known as N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) provide the best protection against mosquito bites.

Other products or lotions which do not contain DEET are apparently not as effective.

This was evaluated in a study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (July 4, 2002), which compared sixteen popular insect repellents. The investigators evaluated repellents which contained citronella, DEET, and IR3535. They also evaluated a variety of Avon® skin products as well as three different wristbands. They even evaluated a soybean-based product.

Volunteers inserted their repellent-treated arms into a cage with 10 unfed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The time it took for the first mosquito to bite was then measured.

What did the investigators find?

Of the all the repellents they tested, those with DEET provided the longest lasting protection.

• 23.8% DEET (OFF! Deep Woods®) provided an average of 5 hours of complete protection after a single application.
• 20% DEET (Sawyer Controlled Release®) provided an average of 3-4 hours of protection.
• 6.65% DEET (OFF! Skintastic®) provided an average of 112 minutes of protection.
• 4.75% DEET (OFF! Skintastic for Kids®) was found to provide an average of 88 minutes of protection.

A soybean-based repellent (HOMS Bite Blocker for Kids ®) was found to be the next most effective repellent after DEET products. It was found to work an average of 1.5 hours after application.

Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus® protected against mosquito bites an average of 22.9 minutes after application.

The wristbands were found to be ineffective.

Hope this helps.
Flori