Efficacy of repellent products against caged and free flying Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes

Abstract

The efficacy of 9 repellents (8 commercial repellents and one product under development) was evaluated on the skin at dosages of 0.65 and 1.7 mg of product/cm2, the latter dosage being the industrial standard for deet based repellents. The repellents were applied to the arm or lower leg of a human subject and tested against Anopheles Stephens: in a cage or flying freely in a mosquito-proof room. In the cage tests, a product with 20% p-menthane-3, 8-diol (PMD) active ingredient provided complete repellency for 7-8 hours, while with 10% PMD had complete repellency for only 30 minutes. The natural oils of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) (10% active ingredient) plus makaen (Zanthoxylum limonella) (10% active ingredient) gave protection for 4-5 hours. In the case of free flying mosquitoes, products with 20% and 30% PMD gave complete protection for 11-12 hours at a dosage of 1.7 mg/cm2 or 6 hours at half the dosage, while the product with 10% PMD afforded protection for less than 2 hours. At the higher dosage rate 40% citronella and hydroxyethyl isobutyl piperidine carboxylate, a new synthetic compound, provided complete repellency for 7 hours. Fifty percent deet (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) was effective for 30 hours if left undisturbed on the skin.