Tag Archives: DEET

Hong Kong, MosquitNo, and Dengue fever

The most substantive piece I’ve written on dengue fever and a nanotechnology-enabled approach to the problem was a 2013 post explaining why the fever is of such concern, which also included information about a proposed therapeutic intervention by Nanoviricides. From the July 2, 2013 posting, here’s more about the magnitude of the problem,

… the WHO (World Health Organization) fact sheet no. 117,

The incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades. Over 2.5 billion people – over 40% of the world’s population – are now at risk from dengue. WHO currently estimates there may be 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year.

Before 1970, only nine countries had experienced severe dengue epidemics. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific. The American, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific regions are the most seriously affected.

Cases across the Americas, South-east Asia and Western Pacific have exceeded 1.2 million cases in 2008 and over 2.3 million in 2010 (based on official data submitted by Member States). Recently the number of reported cases has continued to increase. In 2010, 1.6 million cases of dengue were reported in the Americas alone, of which 49 000 cases were severe dengue.

Not only is the number of cases increasing as the disease spreads to new areas, but explosive outbreaks are occurring. The threat of a possible outbreak of dengue fever now exists in Europe and local transmission of dengue was reported for the first time in France and Croatia in 2010 and imported cases were detected in three other European countries. A recent (2012) outbreak of dengue on Madeira islands of Portugal has resulted in over 1800 cases and imported cases were detected in five other countries in Europe apart from mainland Portugal.

An estimated 500 000 people with severe dengue require hospitalization each year, a large proportion of whom are children. About 2.5% of those affected die.

Fast forwarding to 2015, this latest information about dengue fever features a preventative approach being taken in Hong Kong according to a July 5, 2015 article by Timmy Sung  for the South China Morning Post,

Dutch insect repellent innovator Mosquitno targets Hong Kong as dengue fever cases rise

A Dutch company says it has invented an insect repellent using nanotechnology which can keep clothes and homes mosquito-free for up to three months.

Mosquitno has been invited by a government body to begin trading in Hong Kong as the number of cases reported in the city of the deadly mosquito-borne dengue fever rises.

The new repellent does not include the active ingredient used in many insect repellents, DEET, which has question marks surrounding its safety.

Figures from the Department of Health show the number of dengue fever cases reported rose 8 per cent last year, to 112. There were 34 cases in the first five months of this year, 36 per cent more than in the same period last year. Mosquitoes are most active in the summer months.

MosquitNo does use an ingredient, IR3535, which has caused concern (from Sung’s article),

The Consumer Council has previously warned that IR3535-based mosquito repellents can break down plastic materials and certain synthetic fibres, but Wijnen [Erwin Wijnen, director of the {Mosqutino’s} brand development and global travel retailing] said the ingredient combined with nanotechnology is safe and there was no possibility it would damage clothes.

I was not able to find out more about the company’s nanotechnology solution as applied to MosquitNo,

The NANO Series is a revolutionary, innovative technology designed by scientists especially for MosquitNo. This line utilizes this-breaking insect repellent technology in various products including wipes, textile spray, fabric softener and bracelets. This technology and our trendy applications are truly industry-changing and MosquitNo is at the leading edge!

The active component in all our awesome products within this range is IR3535.

That’s it for technical detail. At least, for now.