Relative efficacy of repellent-treated wristbands against three major mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) vectors of disease, under laboratory conditions

A laboratory study was carried out to evaluate the relative efficacy of N-N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET)- and N,N-diethyl phenylacetamide (DEPA)-treated wristbands against three major vector mosquitoes viz., Anopheles stephensi Liston, Culex quinquefasciatus Say and Aedes aegypti (L.), at two different concentrations viz., 1.5 and 2.0mg/cm2. Overall, both DEET and DEPA have shown various degrees of repellency impact against all three vector mosquitoes. DEET offered the highest 317.0min mean complete protection against An. stephensi and DEPA provided 275.6min complete protection to Cx. quinquefasciatus at 2.0mg/cm2. However, DEPA-treated wristbands did not show any significant differences in terms of reduction of human landing rate and mean complete protection time against An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti between 1.5 and 2.0mg/cm2. DEET demonstrated relatively higher repellency impact to vector mosquitoes than DEPA. However, χ2 analysis revealed that there was no statistically significant difference found in repellent efficiency between DEET and DEPA (P=0.924). The present study result suggests that repellent-treated wristbands could serve as a means of potential personal protection expedient to avoid insect's annoyance and reduce vector-borne disease transmission. They are extremely valuable whenever and wherever other kinds of personal protection measures are unfeasible.