\t\t\t\tThe list of mosquito-borne diseases grows longer every year: West Nile virus, encephalitis, chikungunya. This summer, health experts warn that the resurgent Zika virus will pose a significant threat in the U.S., taking its place alongside other infectious diseases that have emerged in recent years.<\/p>\n
\nWhether your summer plans call for a camping vacation, a trip to South America (where Zika is rampant), or simply enjoying the Great Outdoors in your own backyard, you should make sure to arm yourself with insect repellent to ward off disease-carrying bugs.<\/p>\n
\nTo help, Consumer Reports<\/em> has released new rankings of mosquito repellents that offer the best protection against Aedes<\/em> Aegypti<\/em> mosquitoes, the type that carry the Zika virus.<\/p>\n \nThe new report comes in the wake of World Health Organization warnings that Zika has become a global health emergency, linked to serious birth defects, and is now in 62 countries. <\/p>\n \nThe Zika virus can make anyone sick for up to a week with fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes, and other symptoms. But it’s especially dangerous for women who are pregnant because it boosts the risk of babies born with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development.<\/p>\n \nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged pregnant women against travel to dozens of countries where Zika has been reported in Latin America and the Caribbean. <\/p>\n \nCongress is debating a White House proposal to spend $1.8 billion to fight Zika at home. But in the meantime troubling new signs of the virus\u2019s impact in the U.S. are emerging. <\/p>\n \nThis month officials reported the first \u201cZika baby\u201d born in the U.S., to a New Jersey mother who gave birth to a child with microcephaly. Another 1,500 more known Zika pregnancies are still to come.<\/p>\n \nExperts predict the disease will spread in coming months, particularly in Florida, Texas, and other Southern states where the mosquitoes that carry the disease are most prevalent.<\/p>\n \nFrightening new figures issued by Center for American Progress suggest the toll Zika takes could be significant:<\/p>\n Officials point out that there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, making prevention essential. Wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants when outdoors, eliminating standing water where mosquitoes breed, and the use of repellents are all key ways to avoid mosquito bites.<\/p>\n \nFor its latest rankings, Consumer Reports <\/em>tested products containing deet or a chemical called IR3535, as well as two plantlike ingredients: lemon eucalyptus and picaridin. Testers also looked at repellents made with natural plant oils, such as geraniol, castor oil, soybean oil, citronella, and rosemary. <\/p>\n \nThe most effective products included Sawyer Fisherman’s Formula Picaridin and Natrapel 8 Hour, which each contain 20 percent picaridin, and Off! Deepwoods VIII, which contains 25 percent deet. These repellents kept mosquitoes from biting for about eight hours. <\/p>\n \nRepel Lemon Eucalyptus, containing 30 percent lemon eucalyptus, stopped bites for 7 hours. But the IR3535 products didn\u2019t make Consumer Reports\u2019 list of recommended sprays. Neither did products that contained 5 percent picaridin or 7 percent deet.<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe advise skipping products made with natural plant oils, such as California Baby Natural Bug Blend (a blend of citronella, lemongrass oil, cedar oil, and other ingredients) and EcoSmart Organic, (which includes geraniol, rosemary oil, cinnamon oil, and lemongrass oil),\u201d the Consumer Reports<\/em> authors said.<\/p>\n \n\u201cNone lasted for more than 1 hour against Aedes<\/em> mosquitoes, and some failed almost immediately. In addition, those products are not registered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates skin-applied repellents and evaluates them for safety and effectiveness. Most plant-oil products are exempt from scrutiny by the EPA because the agency considers them to be a minimum risk to human health.\u201d<\/p>\n \nWomen who are pregnant or breast feeding can safely use deet, picaridin, lemon eucalyptus, and IR3535, according to the EPA.<\/p>\n \nOther tips for using insect repellents safely and effectively:\n<\/p>\n The list of mosquito-borne diseases grows longer every year: West Nile virus, encephalitis, chikungunya. This summer, health experts warn that the resurgent Zika virus will pose a significant threat in the U.S., taking its place alongside other infectious diseases that have emerged in recent years. Whether your summer plans call for a camping vacation, a Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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