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
You are here: Home forum items Mosquitoes, holiday planning

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Climate activists likely to be concerned by another fossil fuel-reliant country taking over summit presidency

    Azerbaijan has been announced as the host of next year’s climate summit after fraught negotiations.

    Under UN rules it was eastern Europe’s turn to take over the rotating presidency but the groups need to unanimously decide on the host. Russia had blocked EU countries and Azerbaijan and Armenia were blocking each other’s bids.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: freedom of information request reveals ministers rejected plan to make pledge legally binding

    The UK government has no plans to meet its target for everyone to live within a 15-minute walk of a green space, the Guardian can reveal.

    Ministers have also scrapped an idea to make the target for access to nature legally binding, a freedom of information request submitted by the Right to Roam campaign shows.

    Continue reading...

  • Blast in Sidcup not being treated as terrorism but counter-terror officers are leading investigation

    The London mayor’s office has condemned a “grotesquely irresponsible” attack in which a camera enforcing the city’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was damaged with what appeared to be a homemade bomb, saying lives were put at risk.

    There was no immediate reaction on the incident from Downing Street or the Home Office, with No 10 saying it could not comment amid a police inquiry, but that it condemned “criminality more generally”.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: Figures reveal growing push by fossil fuel sector for technologies that scientists say will not stop global heating

    Cop28 organisers granted attendance to at least 475 lobbyists working on carbon capture and storage (CCS), unproven technologies that climate scientists say will not curtail global heating, the Guardian can reveal.

    The figure was calculated by the Centre for Environmental Law (Ciel) and shared exclusively with the Guardian, and is the first attempt to monitor the growing influence of the CCS subset of the fossil fuel industry within the UN climate talks.

    Continue reading...

  • The Guardian asks five climate experts to explain the key differences between 1.5C and 2C

    The world’s most ambitious climate target is under threat, both from physics and politics. But what would it mean for the planet and its inhabitants if humanity were to abandon the goal to limit global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels?

    The inclusion of 1.5C (2.7F) was hailed as one of the great triumphs of the Paris climate agreement of 2015. Until then, international ambition had been limited to 2C (3.6F), much to the frustration of small island states and others on the frontline of climate disruption.

    Continue reading...

  • Oil cartel warns ‘pressure may reach a tipping point’ and that ‘politically motivated campaigns put our prosperity’ at risk

    The Opec oil cartel has warned its member countries with “utmost urgency” that “pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences” at Cop28, in leaked letters seen by the Guardian.

    The letters noted that a “fossil fuels phase out” remains on the negotiating table at the UN climate summit and urges the oil states to “proactively reject any text or formula that targets energy, ie fossil fuels, rather than emissions”.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Peace parks’ that establish protected areas across borders are one idea from those working to protect marine ecosystems in a region rife with geopolitical sensitivities

    ‘In Sweden they train crows to pick those up,” shouts a passerby, unhelpfully, as my colleague and I fill our jam jars with hundreds of cigarette butts. Half an hour later, it’s plastic bottles, tin cans and a pair of boxer shorts.

    Our team of a dozen volunteers are snorkelling and scuba-diving their way around the Dubai coastline of the Gulf – specifically a stretch of La Mer Bay that has been adopted by Chloe Griffin, a diving instructor who organises these “debris dives” for students.

    Continue reading...

  • New buildings must be zero-emission and have solar panels by 2030, and fossil fuel boilers to be banned by 2040

    New buildings in the EU must have no emissions from fossil fuels by 2030, and boilers that use those sources will be banned by 2040 under a new deal on energy and homes.

    The rules, agreed between MEPs and member states but not yet formally adopted, set targets to make buildings waste less energy. Subsidies for standalone oil and gas boilers will stop by 2025.

    Continue reading...

  • Exclusive: plant from South America, also known as Gunnera, found to spread rapidly and choke native flora

    With its dramatic leaves and sprawling structure, the giant rhubarb has long been a popular garden plant, gracing the grounds of stately homes and multiple National Trust properties.

    But the UK government is now to enact a ban – similar to that on Japanese knotweed – on the plant, also known as Gunnera, meaning it cannot be sold or cultivated, and those who have it in their gardens must ensure it does not spread.

    Continue reading...

  • 2023 is first year of potential pair of El Niño years and since 1997, every instance of these pairs has led to mass coral mortality

    Record-breaking land and sea temperatures, driven by climate breakdown, will probably cause “unprecedented mass coral bleaching and mortality” throughout 2024, according to a pioneering coral scientist.

    The impact of climate change on coral reefs has reached “uncharted territory”, said Prof Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, from the University of Queensland, Australia, leading to concerns that we could be at a “tipping point”.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds