Mosquitos a problem?

[Morgans]

Doing a cruise from Singapore to Yokahama in March/April. Includes a couple of ports in Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong & Shanghai. Are mosquitos a problem in these places - we don't envisage going off the beaten track and will probably stay near the main towns/cities? Any advice or reccommendations. Thanks in advance.

[Trevor Fountain]

Protect yourself from Diphtheria, Hepatitis A, Tetanus and Typhoid when travelling to Vietnam. Other travel vaccinations recommended include Cholera, Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies.

 

Travel vaccination to consider when exploring Singapore are Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis and Tetanus.

 

South Korea isn't too bad, just need to think about , Hepatitis A and B,  Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, Raibies, Measles, Mumps,  and Polio.

 

Don't think these places are that much more of a risk than anywhere you travel to be honest.

[Trevor Fountain]

Over 300 million people contract Malaria yearly through Mosquito Bites, with around 1 million proving fatal.

The good news visitors to the major cities and standard coastal tour areas in Vietnam have a very low chance of contracting malaria.

 

  

[aquidneck1]

Please go to a travel clinic and do not get your medical advise from this forum.  In a travel clinic, they have maps of all of the places that you are travelling to and can specifically advise you as to what you need.  Some diseases occur more in cities and others in the countryside.    Have a great cruise

[Morgans]

We are upto date with all necessary inoculations/vaccinations but just wondered about the likelihood of being bitten - more for discomfort really. We will take plenty of spray! 

[aquidneck1]

At our travel clinic, we were told to take DEET cream and/or Picaridin Spray.  I found that interesting.  Deet is more toxic if inhaled, hence the cream.  Picardin is actually more effective as a spray than a cream.  Who knew.  

[Hoyaheel]

Mosquitoes love me, I always travel with bug spray as even when "it's not mosquito season" or "it's too dry now" or "we're too high for mosquitoes", they will find me and I will have bites. I've been in Vietnam twice now - HCMC for a couple of days as part of an Azamara cruise, and throughout the Mekong region on a river cruise earlier this year. Azamara was December, Avalon Mekong was August. We sprayed our clothing with pyrethrin ahead of the trip and brought DEET spray and picaridin wipes. No problems with mosquitoes. But I wouldn't have done anything differently - next time we'll still spray our clothing (my husband sprays his at the beginning of each summer for tick prevention - ticks like him as much as skeeters love me 😉 ) and bring spray/wipes.

[hubofhockey]

Only used Picaridin.  The only place I saw mosquitos in late October was in Cambodia (Siem Reap).  Not sure if I even saw any in Mekong Delta in Vietnam.  

[Hoyaheel]

We traveled from HCMC up the Mekong to Phnom Penh, then flew to Siem Reap for 4 days. I had no bites the entire trip and don't recall hearing any mosquitoes there either. But as I noted - I would not have done anything differently ;-)

[Morgans]

Thanks to you all. We will go armed with half the chemist's supplies to  be on the safe side!

[diesel1973]

Am going to Thailand in Feb. and have been wondering about mosquitoes. When in Alaska I use wipes with Deet but have never used or heard of picaridin. Is it more effective and readily available? As I type this I am scratching from noseeum bites from a recent trip to Florida!!LOL

[Hoyaheel]

1 hour ago, diesel1973 said:

Am going to Thailand in Feb. and have been wondering about mosquitoes. When in Alaska I use wipes with Deet but have never used or heard of picaridin. Is it more effective and readily available? As I type this I am scratching from noseeum bites from a recent trip to Florida!!LOL

I find DEET more effective but picaridin is fine. You might find wipes locally - I just bought on amazon. 

 

For me, using permethrin on clothing is my favorite option - I still use a spray or wipe, but when I'm out and sweating and not able to reapply a spray? Nice to have backup! 

 

https://healthcenter.indiana.edu/answers/insect-precautions.shtml

[aquidneck1]

Thailand has Dengue Fever in some areas including Bangkok.  Mosquito precautions are the only known way to prevent it.  Those particular mosquitoes are out during the day.  You will definitely want the best protection whatever you decide.  Supposedly 30% Deet or 20% Picardin are just as effective.  

[G.M.T.]

The only time I got bitten was in the market in Saigon.

 

The second Rolex fell apart before we reached the ship.🙈

[Hlitner]

Mosquitoes are only a problem when you get bitten :).  And yes, there are mosquitoes throughout Asia and some of them carry diseases.  The odds are that you will be fine but many do not like to take a chance.  If you are truly risk adverse, make sure to take along a decent Mosquito repellent (products with Deet or Picaridin are recommended by most authorities).   As somebody else posted, you can also treat clothing with some chemicals intended to repel mosquitoes but this will not generally protect parts of your body that are not clothed (such as your face).

 

Hank

[iancal]

We have typically been in SE Asia in the late Jan- March/early April timeframe.  Some mosquitos but very few.   Mostly at night.  Usually DW puts some on her bare legs when we go for dinner. I seldom bother.

 

A word of warning...we do take a small amount of repellent but we have in an unmarked container.  Why?  Not sure whether it was in Thailand or Vietnam (could have been Malaysia as well) but one of the airport security folks took an interest in one bottle we had and confiscated it.  Not certain exactly why.  It was only 60ml.  It did contain deet.    After that we started to  use an unmarked bottle with no issues whatsoever.

Edited December 22, 2019 by iancal

[unrealHeather]

Yes mosquitoes are a problem in SE Asia.  There is dengue fever in Singapore and a small risk of malaria in Vietnam.  See: https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/country_table/a.html . I would get a can of OFF with picaridin and use it 2-3x a day to be safe.   I live in Singapore and know people who have gotten dengue and spent weeks on bedrest.  That mosquito bites all day not just at dusk/dawn.  

[Martin and Lindsey]

We are doing a Cherry blossom cruise in Japan and one stop at Busan, South Korea.

Are we likely to have problems with mosquitos on this cruise??