BITES BY MOSQUITOES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20172, 5 February 1929, Page 10

BITES BY MOSQUITOES.

PREVALENCE IN THE SOUTH.

VIEWS OF MEDICAL MEN.

In view of the number of reports received of persons suffering severely from mosquito bites the opinions of medical men in Christchurch have been published in that city. The general view is that although cases are numerous this year there is nothing unusual or alarming in the severity of the bites. Swollen eyes and lips and bites developing into abscesses are common, but doctors are familiar with such cases, and have had them for treatment almost every year. There is no sign of any unusual infection accompanying the attacks of the mosquitoes. The damp weather experienced recently was advanced by one doctor as the reason for his having had more cases than usual, becauso any stagnant water in summer rapidly becomes a breeding place of mosquitoes. Some patients suffered as a result of holidays in the country, but tho most severe cases developed from bites received in the city and suburbs.

A specialist in skin diseases said that people had como to him with enormous swellings which sometimes developed into ulcers. There was nothing more in the attacks than in previous years and it was not uncommon for people to have to go to bed for several weeks. Inoculation against mosquito bites would be quito feasible, but no such process had yet been discovered. To formulate a process would require the services of a large laboratory and, if successful, would entail from 10 to 15 injections in the spring, a thing which many people would not bo willing to undergo. The inoculation would havo to bo repeated every season, like tho inoculation against hay fever, which is effective for only one year. If a person is bitten sufficiently often he becomes inoculated by a process of natural immunisation as tho years go by. The trouble is that most people get too many bites tho first time. Certain persons aro born with a natural sensitiveness to tho poison of mosquito bites, which is believed to be formic acid. Tho swelling which follows bites is the natural reaction of tho tissues' to tho poison. The blood rushes to tho affected part tho serum from the blood collects under the skin, discharging as a yellow fluid if thero is an opening. This discharge may carry away tho poison. Sun-bathing is recommended as tho best preventive against the effects of mosquito' bites, since it increases tho calcium content of the blood and decreases sensitivity. _ A dab qf a strong tincture of iodine is the best application for a bite.