Mosquito bite remedy

Tom B. · Post by **Tom B.** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:46 am

So the wife brought home a 50g tube of Solarcaine "Stop-Itch" which claims to cure various itching and stinging insect bite problems, in addition to minor burns, rashes, cuts, scratches and sunburn. I was skeptical. As far as bites go, the active ingredient is Papain, 3.5% which is an enzyme commonly found in fresh pineapple. It's also a major ingredient in meat tenderizers. This stuff is sort of an anti-crosslinker - if you try making jello (or DCG) with fresh pineapple, it will never set properly. Anyway , it apparently breaks down the protein in mosquito spit which incites the body to produce those itchy bumps. Checking it out, I found some corroboration online -

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A964958260

As described in the post, Papain-based meat tenderizer should work OK too.

Over the last couple of days, I've tried it on several early mosquito bites, and indeed within an hour they had faded beyond noticing and did not flare up again. For now I'm convinced that this stuff shows great promise for mosquito bites. Not sure about the other stuff.

JohnFP · Post by **JohnFP** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:40 am

Hey Tom, I have heard about the meat tenderizer.

I just read that if you take regular Listerine (the mouth wash) and put it in a spay bottle and spray around your outdoor living area that it keeps mosquitos away and if sprayed right on them, it kills them. I have not tried it yet but it sure beats spraying chemicals all over one's body.

Hans · Post by **Hans** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:26 pm

This stuff is sort of an anti-crosslinker - if you try making jello (or DCG) with fresh pineapple, it will never set properly.

Huh, do you mean that gelatin just remains a liquid at room temperature when this stuff is added to it? Wow, that's good that this is possible. If that is the case, this is very very important to my research.

BobH · Post by **BobH** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:33 pm

it sure beats spraying chemicals all over one's body.

Does that mean Listerene is not made of chemicals?

Hans · Post by **Hans** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:07 pm

Over the last couple of days, I've tried it on several early mosquito bites, and indeed within an hour they had faded beyond noticing and did not flare up again. For now I'm convinced that this stuff shows great promise for mosquito bites. Not sure about the other stuff.

I travel to the tropics about two times each month for my work. I will buy the stuff for when I do get bitten. But I would like to stress the importance about proper protection from being bitten in the first place. The mosquito is an important vector for a number of parasites and viruses. Most of them are very nasty and a some of them can kill. When you live in the USA or Europe there is not much to worry about. Well most of the time anyway. The mosquito transmits the West Nile Virus and Dengue Fever. And during a warm summer Malaria mosquito's regularly hitch rides on aircraft to Western airports. In terms of people dying due to disease transmitted by animals, the mosquito is the clear winner. In fact it is the most dangerous animal in the world. More dangerous even than the African hippo.

For those who go on vacation to tropical places, there are only two effective ways to prevent from being bitten:
1] Any substance that contains DEET and using long sleeves and trousers in the evening and night.
2] A mosquito net in the bedroom.

DEET is not a super pleasant chemical but it does the job well. I have never been bitten when using it. Do not take the risk of using something that contains Citronella instead of DEET. Citronella has a pleasant anti-insectish lemony smell but it has never scientifically been proven that it has any effect whatsoever against being bitten.

I'm sorry about sounding like a preacher. I have seen a few colleagues who got Malaria and know a few who had Dengue fever. One friend had Malaria Tropica. Was in a coma for two days. He never fully recovered. He died 15 years after being bitten.

JohnFP · Post by **JohnFP** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:15 pm

Well Bob, the idea is to spray it around the patio or wherever you are and thus you dont have to spray anything on you directly.

Yea Hans, I have never seen citronella keep mosquitos away at all. We don't have a big problem with mosquitos at my house but every once in a while a few will show up. I very rarely get bit (probably too much garlic in my diet that oozes out my pores) even when others are getting bit around me.

Hans · Post by **Hans** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:42 pm

Hey, how about this idea. I just read that papain can be inactivated by iodide. Will Bromide do the same thing? If that's the case, perhaps there is a great recipe here:

- Mix some papain with a non-tanning developer.
- Develop a commercial holographic film (with relatively hard gelatin) in this stuff. Perhaps the freed bromide ions will deactivate the dilute papain at the places where the bromide ions are freed from the AgBr grains by the developer.
- Where the grains are not developed the papain will soften the gelatin.
- Bleach the hologram in a non-tanning re-halogenating EDTA bleach.
- Fix.
- Wash in warm water.
- Dry in alcohol.
- Voila!!! SHSG without the use of nasty Dichromate and can be used on already hardened film.

BobH · Post by **BobH** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:53 pm

Jus' pokin' at ya, John! The least intrusive way I've heard to prevent mosquito bites is to set up a fan. They're very weak flyers! And nets as Hans mentioned. Also, DEET only really works if you're alone. If you're with a bunch of people all wearing DEET, in a swarm of mosquitos, someone's getting bitten.