As more and more people enjoy various outdoor activities such as mountain climbing, camping, and festivals, patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) transmitted by ticks are appearing everywhere. As the sweltering heat and monsoon season begin, various pests begin to rise. Mosquitoes, which carry various infectious diseases, are also the number one avoidable target.
There is no vaccine or treatment for SFTS, so avoiding tick bites when outdoors is the most effective way to prevent SFTS. Among the ticks in Korea, the small Sophie tick is designated as the main transmission medium for SFTS.
The size of the tick is as small as 0.1~0.7mm, and it sucks blood by biting a passer-by in a forested area such as a park or forest. Therefore, there is a high probability of being bitten by a tick when doing agricultural work or outdoor activities such as hiking, walking, camping, and collecting wild vegetables.
During outdoor activities in summer, it is recommended to wear bright colored long clothes, long socks, and a hat, and use insect repellents such as mosquitoes and mites. It is also helpful to use a mat during outdoor activities. It is better not to sit right in the grass or take off your clothes in the grass and then put them back on.
After returning home, immediately wash clothes and bathe. If there are no insect bite wounds or tick bites, check your health for 15 days if there are signs of bites.
Representative pest repellent ingredients include ‘Icaridin’, ‘diethyltoluamide (DEET)’, and ‘paramethanediol (PMD)’. Among them, Icaridine is an ingredient that has been proven to be safe through several toxicological and dermatological tests, and has been proven to be effective against bloodsucking insects and insects such as mosquitoes, flies, ticks and cockroaches.
Icaridine was registered as an insect repellent raw material with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001, and obtained approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) in 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends icaridin as a raw material for repellents that prevent the transmission of malaria, dengue fever and Zika virus.
In Korea, in the safety and efficacy re-evaluation of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2017, products containing icaridin have been proven to be safe for use by anyone aged 6 months or older.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical is introducing ‘Defense Bugs Double’, a mosquito/mite repellent that uses icaridin. As a result of the ‘repellent effect test on small mites’ conducted by the Sanitary Pest Control Research Institute, it was confirmed that the repelling effect lasted for more than 4 hours when sprayed 3 to 4 times.
Send articles on social media