The resistent breed of mosquitoes are here to stay!

The amount of insensitivity to rampant mosquito menace that most of India faces is evident by the increasing numbers of cases of Dengue, Chicken Gunia, Malaria, Brain Fever... etc... etc... in Delhi as in other cities in India.

"Have you forgotten the good old mosquito nets?" quipped my brother Swaminathan, here in India after almost a year. "I am annoyed by the lackadisciacal attitude of all of you, who are so well educated, and inviting trouble of mosquito bites and the resultant infections - be it malarian or viral! Get hold of one net!" he said.

A quick check of Malaria in the Internet, according to WHO, revealed stunning figures 300-500 million clinical cases and anywhere from 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths each year are reported. That is a stunning figure and a big public health hazard. Almost 40% of the world is susceptible to malaria (from a low figure of 10% of the population in the 1960's). All because of the resistence to pesticides and chemicals. And, it can be easily prevented by sleeping under nets, and not letting the mosquitoes to breed!

I was experimenting with repellents, and of course the mosquitoes have mastered flight dynamics and built massive resistence.These clever beings are not only capable of bypassing the smell path of the electrically run repellent systems, but also feign death on being hit by the hand. Boy! do they pretend well! Then, when we let them be... slowly rise up and fly away.

There are the special smart ones too... They manage to walk on the floor, creep into the house through window and door crevices and manage to conduct planned attacks.

They also have a great feast, especially when they find pure, unpolluted well-fed bodies like that of Swami to suck into... and pester them even more than they do to me.

But, last night (18th April, 2007) was a great night.. Himanshu, my dear friend, managed to buy two beautiful mosquito nets (one cotton, and another nylon). We had sound sleep.

Babloo, as we call dear Swaminathan, slept well. But he still is coping with a bad bout of viral infection, body ache and throat irritation. Hope he gets well soon, and enjoys the rest of his vacation here.