It is well known that many blood-sucking insects are carriers of dangerous infectious diseases. Unfortunately, almost all means of dealing with them have one common drawback – a short duration of action, and some of them also have an unpleasant odor.
Researchers at the Italian Universities of Florence and Pisa have made a promising attempt to solve this problem. They created several compounds (so-called cyclic hydroxy acetates) that have already been tested for their ability to repel mosquitoes.
During the experiments, scientists compared their action with the active ingredient DEET, developed back in the 40s, blocking the sense of smell of blood-sucking insects, but only for two hours. In comparison, the new substances prevented more than 95% of bites for about 10 hours already.
Other advantages include their weaker and even in some cases pleasant smell, low toxicity and extremely low ability to provoke immune reactions
