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Creating Defense Against the West Nile Virus: Harvard Public Health Expert Offers Preventative Tips for Parents

Even if the West Nile virus has not been reported in your community, it is still necessary to take precautions to protect your children, says a Harvard University expert who specializes in children's risk issues. Dr. Kimberly Thompson of the Harvard School of Public Health says that parents need to enlist a variety of methods to protect against mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.

"It is best to take a holistic approach to mosquito control," says Dr. Thompson. "This includes taking physical measures to reduce breeding grounds and risk, using pest control products and working in local communities to ensure civic leaders are mitigating mosquitoes."

Following are 10 tips to reduce the likelihood of mosquito bites and infection of West Nile Virus:

1. Make sure doors and windows have tight fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or holes.

2. Use mosquito repellants on exposed skin whenever mosquitoes may be present.

3. Eliminate standing water, including clogged gutters, pool covers, empty wheelbarrows, and pools of water anywhere else in the yard. Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or similar water-holding containers that have accumulated. Be sure to remove used tires, which are a haven for mosquito breeding.

4. Remind or help neighbors to eliminate breeding sites on their properties.

5. Dress in long sleeves, long pants, socks and closed shoes.

6. Encourage local officials to treat small ponds with larvicide and stock larger ponds with larva eating fish.

7. Ensure organizers of summertime activities for youth - such as summer camps, park and recreation centers are proactively using pest control strategies.

8. Beware of the times mosquitoes are most active; typically at dusk and dawn, April through October, and avoid prime mosquito locations including marshes and wetlands.

9. Clean and chlorinate swimming pools, outdoor saunas and hot tubs. If not in use, keep empty and covered.

10. Learn more about your community's mosquito control program. If local elected officials have not implemented a mosquito control program, advice about pest control products for consumers and local governments is available at www.westnilevirusfacts.org. Ensure that local community leaders are giving protection to the public through integrated mosquito management programs.

For people who may question the use of pest control products and repellents to control mosquitoes, Dr. Thompson says: "Everyone needs to take precautions that they are comfortable with. But I would be much more concerned about the potential diseases one can acquire through mosquito bites than the risks of properly applied pest control products."