Okay, that definitely happens. What went wrong? What are the possibilities? And perhaps most importantly, based on my
answer, what should I do next time?
Here are some possible reasons why you’ve been wearing DEET
all holiday, but still got bitten.
For fun, try to rank them in order of likelihood.
1. I didn’t apply it correctly. Let's face it, that's certainly not
impossible. If you’re away for 14 nights
and apply DEET 2 or 3 times a day, that’s a lot of applications you need to
make sure you’ve performed perfectly.
Putting anything else on, do you ever ‘miss bits’? Ever become distracted halfway through
applying, and forgot which limb(s) you’ve already done? So, might I have
missed a bit? You don't have to miss
a bit every time. Just once.
2. It got washed off. Did I say 2 or 3 times a day? If you regularly go swimming, you might
easily up that to 5 or 6. Or more. And remember, for each application, you need
to be as accurate and thorough as all the rest. So, might it have got washed off? You don't have to wash it off and not reapply
correctly every time. Just once.
3. I forgot.
We’ve all done it. Things we do
regularly, day-in, day out, which you might think you'd never forget, but you
just occasionally forget. I’ve left my
keys on my desk. I’ve left my phone at
home. I didn’t take my medication this morning.
Did I leave the iron on? Did I
put the bins out? Did I turn the
straighteners off? Did I lock the front
door? Let’s face it, we forget
things. We’re human. So, might I have forgotten? You don't have forget every time. Just once.
4. I was bitten in-between applications. True story.
In Florence recently I wore full length jeans and shirts (it was autumn)
and I got one single, solitary bite. It was
on my left leg, near the top, over to one side, just underneath my front-left
jeans pocket, that's the pocket where I always carry my wallet. The mosquito would have had to bite through
my jeans and wallet. I wore DEET all the
time, we had a plug-in in the room, so the only time I was unprotected was when
I’d had a shower and went out on to the balcony to re-apply. AH! So
there was a time, a small window of opportunity, where I had no DEET on, and
wasn't fully clothed. So, might I
have been exposed for a short period? You
don't have to have been exposed regularly.
Just once.
5. It wasn’t a mosquito. Try this:
So, are you
absolutely, 100% sure it was a mosquito bite?
6. The scientists who’ve tested DEET extensively
and repeatedly for over half a century have all been lying when they tell us
DEET works. Or they’re
shape-shifting lizards. Or it’s
something to do with Bill Gates, or 5G, or vaccines. Or something.
So, are the conspiracy nutters right?
7. There’s an omnipotent, all-powerful God, and I’ve upset her very, very much. So, are you out of favour with God?
Consider each of the above possibilities, and for each one, consider firstly the likelihood that it happened. As I say, maybe put them in order.
Now, take each one in turn, and let's say that's what
actually caused your bite. Now, what
would you say would be the most logical response to that happening. For how many would that be “Stop taking DEET
and try something else which is completely scientifically unproven. Probably just something I read on the
internet, because that has a track record of rock-solid accuracy."
For how many should it be “Continue taking DEET, I must
just have made a mistake.”
I'd say, for numbers 1-5, the logical response would be that
it wasn't a case of DEET not working, it's some other error, easily done. In which case, it'd be daft to stop taking
DEET, and for more sensible to try to eliminate the chance of error, as much as
is humanly possible.
But if you're still not convinced, for how many would the
logical response be “I’ll try something else which has been tested and
proven to work, like PMD, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535"
and for how many would the logical response be to try something unproven, or
something proven not to work, before exhausting all the ones already proven to
work?
Actually, number 7 is my favourite…
