Eco Hvar

Mosquitoes, holiday planning

Published in Forum items

A worried parent asks Eco Hvar about mosquitoes on Hvar. Is there cause for concern?

Potential visitor: email 25th August 2017: Hi, I am planning to visit Hvar Island in early September. I have a one year old baby girl and I am concerned regarding mosquitoes. How bad is the infestation this year?

Thank you. 

Eco Hvar: 25th August 2017: Many thanks for your inquiry.

Are you concerned about the possibility of mosquito-borne illnesses? If so, be reassured: I have never known of any in all my years on Hvar. And in Croatia overall there have been extremely few cases, very few in humans, and no fatalities.

You can check all this out on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, eg for Dengue Fever; and West Nile Fever. (Zika has not happened at all in Croatia.)

There is more reason to be concerned about the insecticides used to 'kill off' mosquitoes than the mosquitoes themselves. Permethrin, for instance, is used in many over-the-counter sprays against flying insects, including mosquitoes. Permethrin is even used as to impregnate materials for clothing to prevent mosquito bites. Yet Permethrin has many ill-effects, from being toxic to cats, to possibly affecting the nervous system adversely during development (ie in babies and small children: eg Shafer, T.J., et al. 2005. "Developmental neurotoxicity of pyrethroid insecticides: critical review and future research needs." Environ Health Perspect. 113(2):123-136.)

Mosquitoes are certainly a nuisance, and their bites can cause irritation. However, in my experience, an adequate Vitamin B intake reduces the effects of their bites dramatically. Citronella candles can help repel mosquitoes in the environment. These measures can certainly work for adults. For a small baby, obviously you should seek advice from a paediatric specialist, preferably one with an interest in holistic medicine.

How bad is the infestation? The answer may sound odd. Friends who live away from the main roads report that there are very few this year. Those of us who live close to the roads which were sprayed with insecticides in the routine 'fogging' are experiencing an influx of mosquitoes, as indeed happens each time.

The truth is that mosquitoes in this area of Dalmatia have not caused any epidemic of dangerous diseases. Mosquitoes are endemic in the Mediterranean, and attempts to eradicate them through poisons only make the situation worse. Mosquitoes are arguably much less dangerous than the poisons used to suppress them.

I hope all this information lessens your concern. September is usually the perfect month for visiting Dalmatia!

Potential visitor, 26th August 2017: 

Thank you for your reply. This was very helpful. We are planning to go ahead with the visit.
xeenaa13(a)gmail.com

Izvor: http://www.biovrt.com/kontakt

More in this category: « Mosquitoes and more
back to top
You are here: Home forum items Mosquitoes, holiday planning

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Hyperlocal, seasonal and eco-friendly: British flower farms are coming up roses

    Figures show domestic flower growers are expanding their market share, as the government gives sector official recognition

    British flower farmers have long resembled David faced with their own particular Goliath – the imported flower industry. More than 80% of cut flowers bought by UK consumers are shipped or flown in. However, recent figures show domestic growers are expanding their market share.

    Chloë Dunnett, the founder of Sitopia Farm, a London-based organic farm growing food and flowers, says: “Our flower sales are up 65% for the year and turnover is increasing year on year as the public and florists look for flowers that are seasonal, environmentally friendly and hyperlocal – consumer power can be very effective.”

    Continue reading...

  • UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution

    The US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia – some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters – opposed the measure

    The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.

    The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said Wednesday’s general assembly vote, in which 28 countries abstained, underscored that governments are responsible for protecting citizens from the “escalating climate crisis”.

    Continue reading...

  • Sea foam may look sinister but it is mostly harmless and natural

    Phenomenon, often seen around Britain’s coast at this time of year, is caused by a combination of algae and weather

    At this time of year a sinister-looking substance can often be sighted around Britain’s coast: a frothy foam piled up along the shoreline or appearing in long ribbons offshore. People sometimes assume this foam is the result of pollution or sewage dumping. In fact it is a common natural phenomenon produced by a combination of algae and weather.

    Sea algae start to grow in April as conditions warm. The most common sort, phaeocystis, is not toxic and forms part of the marine food chain. When the algal bloom dies it leaves a brown scum of organic material with surfactant properties, which, like soap, lowers the surface tension of the water.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Violence, precision and a free lunch – welcome to the weird world of pollination | Phil Gates

    Willington, County Durham: On a fine May morning, there’s no better time to look at the stunning array of ways that bees and flowers have co-evolved to interact

    “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a wild flower in possession of a fortune in nectar and pollen, must be in want of a pollinator,” Jane Austen might have written, had she been a botanist. All along this former railway line, on a sunny May morning, there are thousands of newly opened flowers laden with such inducements, vying for the attention of foraging bumblebees. And none delivers its pollen with such deception and violence as broom (Cytisus scoparius).

    A large bumblebee arrives, settles briefly, finds no nectar and departs, leaving a deranged tangle of stamens protruding from the petals. What happened? Poking my finger into an intact flower, to mimic the visitor, there’s an explosion of pollen as 10 stamens and a coiled stigma, confined in the boat-shaped keel petal, break free. Simultaneously, they deliver and collect pollen, with a gut-punch to the insect’s furry abdomen. Bumblebees don’t seem to mind; the trap has been tripped in almost every flower on this bush.

    Continue reading...

  • The week in wildlife: a lurking leopard, a lucky fox and a wily coyote

    This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

    Continue reading...

  • More than 40 arrests made after UK activists target ‘bee-killing’ pesticides

    Environmental activists lock themselves to pesticide barrels in protest outside Syngenta headquarters

    More than 40 people, including Greenpeace UK’s programme director, Amy Cameron, have been arrested after a protest outside pesticide company Syngenta’s Yorkshire headquarters.

    A number of the activists locked themselves on to 15 blue pesticide barrels outside the headquarters, blocking the gates and leading to the temporary closure of the local A62. Activists had transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. The action took place on World Bee day.

    Continue reading...

  • Plastic food and drink packaging ‘world’s most common coastal litter’

    Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue in turmoil

    Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world’s shorelines, a study has found.

    Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject.

    Continue reading...

  • First there were coalmines, then came the windfarms. Why Colombia’s Wayúu people fear Colombia’s green energy boom

    In the country’s north, mining has ravaged Indigenous lands and lives for decades. Is history repeating itself as renewable energy schemes arrive on their doorstep?

    In the heart of the dry tropical forest, Maria Elena Aguilar Uriana walks past towering cacti, her ancestors’ graves, and patterned clothes blowing in the wind. Her brow is furrowed, her hands fixed on her hips. She points to a former watering hole, now nothing but dust.

    “Our children are malnourished and dying,” she says. “It’s all because of the mining. It has destroyed our landscape, our homes, our lives.”

    Continue reading...

  • Big oil’s war profits may have a silver lining after all

    As conflict in Iran sends prices soaring, fossil fuel companies are seeing extraordinary gains – but the crisis may also accelerate the shift towards clean energy

    • Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

    A friend of mine was recently left in tears after filling up the car she relies on to drive to work. Thanks to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, prices at the pumps have soared. She wasn’t sure how her family was going to make it to the next paycheck.

    It is a personal story and a distressing one, but the big picture is truly obscene. Fossil fuel companies are raking in monstrous, unearned war profits taken from the pockets of people like you, me, my friend, and any of us who fills up a vehicle or pays an energy bill.

    UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns

    Rainforests pushed to breaking point by new demands for resources, report says

    ‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil

    Continue reading...

  • On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife – podcast

    One way to pay for wildlife conservation is to allow the rich to bag a few animals for high prices. But critics see this approach as an exercise in neocolonialism

    Written and read by Cal Flyn

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.