'It does of course need to be thoroughly tested.’
Television doctor Dr Hilary Jones appeared on Good Morning Britain today to warn that while mosquito repellent spray is starting to fly off the shelves, further research was needed into the impact it has on coronavirus.
Dr Hilary’s warning comes after news was circulated that mosquito repellent spray could be used to kill a certain strain of Covid-19 and guard against the virus.
‘It’s not something you can take internally, it’s something that you can spray on – it’s protective if you like,’ Dr Hilary explained.
‘It could work for a few hours as a barrier, it could kill off some virus.’
But where has this new idea come from and is it based in science – or is it fake news?
The idea that insect repellent could be used as one layer of protection against coronavirus has come from a military study, released this week in order for further research to be conducted into its effects on Covid-19.
Not ‘fake news’, the new findings show that insect repellent containing Citriodiol could be used to help tackle the virus.
The research was conducted by scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and saw soldiers sprayed with a mosquito repellent that contained the product, in a bid to see if it could offer an extra layer of protection against the virus.
The Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin, confirmed back in May that as Citriodiol – a natural extract of lemon eucalyptus oil – has proven effective previously against SARS, DSTL was conducting tests on the product ‘to see whether it is efficacious’ against Covid-19.
Results from the tests found that while mosquito spray is not effective against Covid-19 alone, it could be used as an extra layer of protection alongside wearing masks and thorough hand hygiene.
Initial findings from the study suggest that insect repellents which contain products like Deet are not effective in the same way, and the key ingredient in the sprays that do work is Citriodiol.
The ingredient Citriodiol can be found in mosquito repellents such as Mosi-Guard.
As Dr Hilary rightly pointed out, more research needs to be conducted before any final conclusions can be drawn from the study results, but Citrefine International Ltd, the company that produces Citriodiol, also believe their product could be effective in the fight against the pandemic.
The company is asking the government to back a testing programme of their product, with Managing Director Jacqueline Watson saying: ‘What we can say is that we do feel there is a very good chance it could work against this virus but it does of course need to be thoroughly tested.’
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