May 9 @ 23:00 (UTC+8) – Bite count updated to 29. The heels (both!) of my feet started to itch.

May 9 @ 23:20 – White flower oil isn’t cutting it anymore. I’ve moved to testing the toothpaste theory. Crest Extra White plus Scope. Flavour: Mint Splash. It has Scope, mouthwash was a possible remedy too. This may just work!

May 9 @ 23:30 – I think I’ve killed the last two remaining mosquitoes in my apartment. They followed me into the washroom when I was putting toothpaste on my bites. I closed the door and waited semi-patiently until they landed on something smackable. The arrogant fools landed on my mirror to fix their antennae. My mirror has bug juice on it now. A small price to pay to exact revenge on the blood-sucking… thingies. Take that!

May 10 @ 00:26 – *cry* I was a fool. There are more. They’re congregating on the ceiling above my closet. I can’t get to them and there’s four more. I really hope they’re all male mosquitoes.

May 10 @ 02:08 – Bite count updated to 32. Left pinky finger, left ring finger, right ankle. I swear none of them came near me! FYI, toothpaste does not work. I can’t go to sleep. I feel itchy and they keep flying around me! Long-sleeved PJs aren’t helping the itch.

May 10 @ 02:24 – I just washed a potato bug down the tub drain. Eww.

May 10 @ 02:34 – Mosquito count -1. I’m sooo tired but I can’t sleep and my throat is so dry.

May 10 @ 03:16 – Bite count updated to 33. Right thigh. I’m going insane. I’m imagining that I bite my flesh off because they’re so itchy.

May 10 @ 09:00 – I turned on the air conditioner last night in hopes of dropping the temperature enough to make it uncomfortable for the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes don’t hibernate until it’s  below 10 degrees though and I was going to get that with the air conditioner. But it did seem to help with something because no mosqtuioes were flying around my head while I was sleeping anymore. The air flow in the room might have messed them up and they ran for cover!

May 10 @ 15:42 – Mosquito count -1. I saw one on the floor in the living room and I stomped on it–with a little too much force and a lot of satisfaction.

May 10 @ 18:59 – Bite count updated to 36. One on the right gluteus maximus, one on the right thigh, and one on the bottom of my right foot. They’re giving me smallpox on the right-side of my body now! The bites on my feet are sooo itchy. I tried to sleep off the irritation, it worked until I woke up. -.-

May 10 @ 19:24 – I’m smoking out the mosquitoes! I bought some mosquito coils today that you burn. I’m sure it says something about “Use in a well-ventilated area.” in Chinese but I can’t open the window so I’ll make do with turning on the washroom fan. Mosquito count -1. One of them was trying to hide out in the washroom, I found it flying around while I was cleaning the house.

May 10 @ 19:47 – Bite count updated to 39. I have a vampire bite on my right forearm and a bite on the back of my right hand.

May 10 @20:43 – I went back to cleaning, I found a mosquito dead on the bathroom floor. Maybe I willed it to die with my mind! Mosquito count -1. Some species of mosquitoes only have a life span of 4 days. I hope these mosquitoes have a shorter one and they’re all dropping dead right now then my problem will be solved.

May 10 @ 21:03 – My knuckle is swollen!

May 10 @ 21:45 – Imagine how many mosquitoes I could’ve eaten if I was sleeping with my mouth open. *shivers* It is a good thing that it’s only a myth.

May 12 @ 20:33 – Bite count updated to 40. Right thumb started getting itchy yesterday after work.

May 12 @ 21:17 – Still at least one mosquito flying around!!!! AHHHH! The back of my left calf is itchy. Bite count updated to 41.

May 13 @ 08:09 – I woke up with my right ring finger itchy. Bite count updated to 41. Phalange bites are the worst. There’s too much bone and not enough flesh and not enough manuever space to effectively scratch. Scratching just makes it hurt.

May 14 @ 23:56 – Spotted: Mosquito on the curtain. Ready. Aim. Whack. Gross miss. Mosquito flies towards the ceiling until it disappears from my sight. A quick look around the room and something catches my eye. Spotted: Mosquito on my closet. Ready. Aim. Whack. Near miss. Mosquito quickly lands just out of arms reach from my short arms. Distraction: Mosquito on the ceiling! When will it end?! My body is riddled with scars from scratching. Just found out the one on my left thigh–didn’t I ever count that one?–is all scabby. I like to cross my legs when I sit, it couldn’t be in a better spot to be constantly agitated. I’ve opted out of sprinkling my bedroom with deadly fumes from Chinese bug repellant and I’ve opted out of carbon monoxide poisoning from burning the coils in my bedroom. I have, instead, decided on a nifty plug-in mosquito-bugger-offer. It’s like a Glade plug-in for mosquito repellant. My skin has been really dry lately, I wonder if it’s from all the fumes and chemicals in the air. I’ve started to cough too because my throat feels so uncomfortably dry. The nurses says if there’s no fever, there’s no need to worry.

May 15 @ 17:20 – Bite count updated to 42. Back neck. I have been scratching it without realizing it and now it’s raw to the touch. It will probably scab like the rest of my bites. The inside of my right forearm has been itchy too but there’s no visible bite marks where I’m itchy. It’s all psychological!

May 16 @ 13:58 – Mosquito count -2. Spotted: Dead mosquito by the kitchen sink and at the head of the bed.

May 22 @ 08:18 – The mosquitoes have been fairly quiet lately. There has been a emergence of smaller flying insects, a moth-like insect that’s about half a centimetre in diameter and another flying insect I can’t make out. I’ve killed the “moth” but I can’t find the other one. No new mosquito bites so I think I can safely stop blogging about it now. :) If you are not a mosquito, may you live long and prosper.

Action: Remedies for Mosquito Bites

• Over 40 Mosquito Bite Itch Relief Tips on TipNut.com

After looking up remedies for mosquito bites, the recurring remedies involve the use of:

• alcohol (e.g., rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, mouthwash)
• vinegar
• toothpaste
• hot water
• dry soap
• saline water (i.e., salt water)
• antihistamine

Other than slowly tearing the skin off my left arm, I have been dabbing white flower oil (白花油) onto the bites even though it’s not meant for bites. I happen to have some around the apartment. I bought it when I was in Hong Kong during the National Day holiday. I can’t remember why I bought it, maybe I had a mosquito bite then too… It cools the bite down, like Vick’s Vaporub, and it seems to keep my mind off of the itching for a while. The smell is strong but I’m used to it. It says I’m suppose to avoid broken skin, I’ve broken my skin from all the scratching… and it says to avoid the eyes, I accidentally rubbed it into my eyes today…I’m okay though! “I strong like bull!”

I tried a burning-hot bath. It was soo comfortable after my skin got used to the burning sensation. Unfortunately, a couple hours after my bath the itching came back.

I went shopping today and spent four hours travelling to and from Hànkǒu (汉 口) by bus. The heat, sweatiness and constant brushing up against clothes and bags irritated the bites, I must’ve looked odd and scary ripping my left arm apart.

Prevention: Not Getting Bitten is the Best Remedy

• How to Prevent Mosquito Bites on TipNut.com

As abstinence is to baby-free and STD-free, not getting bitten is to itch-free and West Nile-free.

• Stop breathing. Mosquitoes are attracted to CO₂.
• Wear light-coloured clothes. Darker clothes attract mosquitoes.
• Avoid scented anything (e.g., body lotion, perfume).
• DEET is L33T. Use it on clothing or skin–not on damaged skin.
• Eucalyptus-based repellents. The oil of the eucalyptus plant has been shown to be highly effective in repelling mosquitoes. Non-toxic!
• Garlic powder and water paste. You can even make a garlic powder-water solution and spray it over the lawn, some say it works.

I should buy a mosquito net for my bed, I saw some today while I was walking around in Hànkǒu (汉 口) but they looked so big and I didn’t feel like carrying it on a 2-hour bus ride, so I decided against it. I have a king-sized bed, the mosquito nets are pretty big.

West Nile Virus and You

• West Nile Virus on Wikipedia
• West Nile Virus on PHAC
• West Nile Virus on CDC

Not only are mosquito bites uncomfortable but they can be fatal too. Some mosquitoes are carriers of malaria or West Nile Virus (WNV). In most cases, WNV is not fatal. Eighty percent of infected individuals don’t experience any symptoms at all. The 20 percent that do may experience these symptoms that last from a few days to several weeks:

• fever
• headache
• body aches
• nausea
• vomiting
• swollen lymph glands
• skin rashes

About one in 150 infected individuals will win the bad-luck lottery and develop severe symptoms:

• high fever
• headache
• neck stiffness
• stupor
• disorientation
• coma
• tremors
• convulsions
• muscle weakness
• vision loss
• numbness
• paralysis

These symptoms can last several weeks and the effects on the brain can be permanent–the symptoms are due to the swelling of the brain caused by the infection.

Did you know that humans are a dead-end host for the virus? There’s a very low chance that mosquitos will get infected by drinking blood from a human infected with the virus because our immune system doesn’t allow it to multiply enough.^[*]

Why Does it Itch?

Why Do Mosquito Bites Itch? from WiseGeek.com

When the female mosquitos come to suck your blood, it injects an anticoagulent mixed in with her saliva. It’s to stop your blood from clotting while it sucks your blood. Handy. Your immune system responds to the saliva left behind by the mosquito and sets off an allergic response–itching and swelling. Over time and bites, some people stop having allergic reactions to the bites. I’m crossing my fingers that that will happen to me in the next couple days because I look like I have smallpox on the left side of my body. It’s 33 degrees outside, I’m wearing short-sleeved shirts to school, I can’t hide them or I’d be heading for a serious case of heat stress.