Prevention of Dengue fever through plant based mosquito repellent Clausena dentata (Willd.) M. Roem (Family: Rutaceae) essential oil against Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquito

S. Rajkumar, A. Jebanesan*

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, A.V.C. College, Mannampandal, Tamil Nadu (India) *Division of Phytochemistry and Vector Biology, Department of Zoology, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu (India)

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• Parasitology

Abstract. – Background: Plant based repellent against mosquito borne diseases are used recently because synthetic repellents cause side effects like breathing problem, eye irritation, head ache, cough, etc. The use of natural products for dengue control would protect the environment, reduce dependence on expensive synthetic repellents and also generate local employment.
Material and Methods: Essential oil was isolated by steam distillation which was used against the bites of Aedes aegypti and duration of protection period was assessed. Skin-irritant potential test was also conducted on 25 healthy volunteers by using four-point scale.
Results: The increase in the concentrations of essential oil increased the mean protection time against the bites of Aedes aegypti. The lowest mean protection time was 180.0 min for 2.5% and highest time of 255.0 min for 10%. The mean score of zero for skin-irritant potential test for all the concentrations indicated that the essential oil did not cause irritation to human skin.
Conclusions: Results indicated that the use of plant based repellent for the control of dengue fever would replace the currently used synthetic repellents which causes many side effects.

Corresponding Author: S. Rajkumar, MD; e-mail: drrajvec@rediffmail.com