Die 'Quitoes, Die!

A crackling sound, a flicker of light, and a smell of something burning...

"What was that? What is that?" I remember asking my sister as she swung a racket through the air. It made more crackling sounds.

It was December and we were enjoying our mugs of coffee while catching up on our lives. (As in most cultures, December is a time of homecoming and family gatherings).

This time, she came home with something that  really amused my mom and I. It is an Electric Mosquito Bat! Since some people at home suffer from asthma and allergic rhinitis, spraying insect and bug repellent products (no matter how odorless they promise to be) and lighting mosquito coils assault their sensibilities. So this...this electric mosquito bat is the new favorite. It's light and rechargeable! Press the button, swing it in the mosquito-infested area, and the crackling sound and the sight of mosquitoes burning in the "net" gives so much satisfaction. Die, 'quitoes, die!

What do I have against mosquitoes? Why do I want to get rid of them?

The 'quitoes buzzing alone is such a nuisance. (And it's equally irritating when they accidentally get into your mouth or nose or ears). Most of all, they're a menace! These little bloodsuckers bring malaria, dengue, encephalitis, and filariasis.


(photo credit: img.webmd.com/.../cdc_photo_of_mosquito.jpg)

I have known of these diseases but it is only recently that I discovered that filariasis is also caused by a mosquito bite.

(photo credit:

newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45089000/jpg/_..)

A threadlike worm, filaria invades the human body. In the human host, the female filaria gives birth to embryos which migrate through the body to the blood vessels and the skin. When a mosquito bites an infected person, the larvae get into or near the tiny wound. Eventually, they penetrate into the person's body and travel through blood or lymph vessels until they find a permanent living site.

The adult worm in the lymphatic vessels, cause severe damage and swelling (lymphoedema). A classic sign of the late-stage disease is elephantiasis – painful, disfiguring swelling of the legs and genital organs.

Although the infection can be treated with drugs, anti-filarial drugs may not work for chronic conditions. It will require other measures, such as surgery for hydrocele, care of the skin and exercise to increase lymphatic drainage in lymphoedema.

That is why, help me in my battlecry: "Die, 'quitoes! Die!