Q. I worked at Mosquito Hill Nature Center in the middle of a swamp in Wisconsin. The mosquitos there are bird size.
To eliminate the bump and itch of a mosquito bite, use saliva. You have to put it on immediately after the bite. I tell the students, “swat then spit.” An enzyme in saliva neutralizes the mosquito poison.
A. With West Nile virus spreading in so many states, we think mosquito bite prevention is the first step. DEET is the recognized standard, but some new repellents are also effective. Look for the ingredients picaridin (Cutter Advanced, some Off! Products, Natrapel) or oil of lemon eucalyptus (Off! Botanicals, Coleman Botanicals, Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus, Repel Lemon Eucalyptus).
Here is another natural approach from a reader: “Years ago, before going with friends on a backpacking trip in Michigan, I put a garlic bulb in a glass container and microwaved it for 45 seconds at 60 percent power. Then I put the garlic bulb in a bag and took it with me.
“Each day I ate a clove or two (delicious). The mosquitos stayed away. My friends who tried it had the same result. Since garlic aroma is released through the skin, we theorized that the odor kept them away.”
Despite this and similar anecdotes, a double-blind placebo-controlled study did not find that eating garlic protected against mosquito bites (Medical and Veterinary Entomology, March, 2005). In some places, long sleeves and pants may be your best bet. We like your idea of using saliva to ease the itch, but we have not been able to find any scientific evidence that supports it.
