Insect-borne diseases are illnesses that are carried by insects, sometimes called vectors, and transmitted to humans through a bite. The disease can be transferred from a human or animal to the insect, and then from the insect to a human when it bites. Often, when the insect or vector becomes infections, they can transmit the disease for the rest of their life with every bite. Commonly known insect borne diseases include Malaria, Zika virus, Dengue Fever, and Lyme Disease. These can be transmitted from Mosquitos, Ticks, and flies, like the Tsetse Fly.
Every year there are more than 700,000 deaths from diseases such as malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and onchocerciasis.1
These diseases are more prevalent in Tropical and Subtropical areas, and disproportionally affect the poorest populations, and many can cause life-long disability and even death. More people are at risk of insect-borne diseases than ever before, with more than half of the world’s population at risk of Dengue Fever.2 This is why it is important that we work together as a global community to fight the spread and prevalence of these diseases.
There are several programmes to help reduce the risk of being bitten – mainly by mosquitos – around the world. These include mosquito bed nets and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) – where the house is sprayed with a long-lasting insecticide. The only problem with these is that we are seeing that mosquitos are changing their behaviour to try and find their meal despite these measures and increasing insecticide resistance.3 There are also research programmes looking at modifying mosquitos so that they are unable to reproduce or cannot host the disease due to an infection they already carry that is not infections to humans. These, however, are not fully researched or readily available.
Vaccines are being worked on for many of these insect-borne diseases, but they are still in early days of use – the first Malaria Vaccine has been recommended by the World Health Organisation for large-scale roll out for children in countries at risk. However, the cost of this could negate the effort made to create this vaccine, due to lack of funding and support.4
This is where insect repellents may have a role to play in keeping the population safe. But there is a problem with most repellents – they tend to be smelly, sticky, oily, and don’t last very long. The world needs a safe, pleasant, and effective repellent that will keep the whole family safe from insect bites, no matter where they are. LivFul’s Enhanced Insect Repellent may be one of the answers to this call. It lasts for 14 hours, is a soft lotion with a pleasant smell, and is safe for everyone from 2 months old, including pregnant women.
Our vision is to see that everyone can Live Free, Live Well, and Live to their Full Potential, and this is one way we are working towards that for everyone affected by insect-borne diseases.
LivFul's insect repellent lotion is not currently available for sale in the USA. Contact us to check availability in your region.
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