On the Proper Use of Mosquito Nets

I have previously slept under a mosquito net during some of my travels in Africa, where malaria is a serious risk, but didn't really consider using a net during my first few months in Brazil. Fortaleza, unlike the Amazon region, is not an area where malaria is endemic. We do ahve a significant presence of dengue, a different mosquito-borne illness, but it is transmitted by a different type of mosquito that is more active during the day. Since mosquito nets did not appear necessary from the standpoint of disease prevention, I never really gave the idea a thought until the past few weeks.

Since I live so close to the water, we have quite a concentration of mosquitoes around each night. Despite my best efforts at repelling the annoying insects, I found myself waking up with multiple mosquito bites each night. Finally, Nate and I went to Mercado Central in search of mosquito nets to cure this problem. We quickly obtained the necessary nets, and returned home only to realize that we would need some form of string or rope to suspend the nets over our beds. Undaunted, I headed off to the oceanfront market in search of an enterprising salesman willing to sell me some of their string or rope for what would likely be a ridiculous price. Indeed, after much searching, I found just such an entrepreneur who sold me enough of a plastic string/rope that would function to suspend my mosquito net.

I returned home and quickly set up the net, draping it around my bed, nearly touching the floor on all sides as shown below. This seemed to work well for a few nights, as I only received a few bites each night, which I assumed occurred prior to when I went to bed. Unfortunately, my confidence in my initial implementation of the net proved unfounded when put to the test by one of the worst nights for mosquitoes in recent history. On the third night after I set up my net, I awoke at 3 am covered in mosquito bites with approximately 50 mosquitoes flying around inside my net. Apparently they flew under my bed and found their way inside the net, at which point they were trapped by the very device that was designed to prevent their attacks.

This lead to a sleepless, itchy night that was followed by a day of reevaluation of the net design. I quickly realized that it was apparently quite important to ensure that all sides of the net were tucked tightly under the mattress to prevent the entry of fierce Brazilian mosquitoes (which I assure you are more aggressive than their American counterparts). After this bit of reengineering, I have had a week and a half of mosquito-free nights. Photos follow of the incorrect and correct approaches to mosquito net suspension, especially useful if you need to construct a mosquito net yourself...

Not the Way to Prevent Mosquito Bites


The Appropriate Method...