AboutDr. Ravindra Bhaskar Ghooi Expertise I can provide information on drugs and medicines, their actions, uses, interactions and adverse effects. To avoid confusion, generic names of
medicines may please be provided. I am a pharmacologist, having worked
on animal and human pharmacology, and presently I am the Dean of Bilcare Research Academy, where we teach courses on clinical research. We dont work on saturdays and sundays, hence questions reachng me on these days will be replied on Monday, please bear with me.
Question Excuse me if this is the wrong place to ask this,
but I thought it may be revelant enough under this topic.
If you happen to know under which category this question would better belong, do tell. :-)
I was wondering if there were such a thing as this...
A substance which is taken, preferrably orally, is harmless to the human body, and stays itself in the bloodstream of the lower legs area...
Or a substance which is rubbed harmlessly onto one's skin, in any area, or in safe areas...
The shocker is that this substance "treats" the blood/skin in that area to be poisonous/fatal to insects (particularly bedbugs) if any insects happen to drink the blood. Remember, this is either harmless or near harmless to humans.
So, the idea is to let the bedbugs come all they want, but they'll be paying the final price for their little meal, or simply just by piercing one's "treated" skin. The idea is not to repel insects and let them get away.
Is this substance out there as I speak, or is it even conceivable, laughable... perhaps chemically impossible?
Please direct this question elsewhere if necessary...
I'd love to know. :-]
Answer Hi Anthony,
I know of no sction of this site which could handle this question, but I could try. I did work in Haffkine Insitute where I helped testing various insecticides.
Your idea is good, and not outlandish as one would think at first. In fact insect repellents were developed with this idea. However the scientists did not want the insects to bite but be repelled, hence saving the subject from the bite too. What you want to is eliminate insects or bedbugs by killing them through poisoned blood. I really do not know if such a chemical exists. One that is so toxic to insects may not be very safe for man. Presently the safety requirements are so stringent that I doubt if such a chemical would get through human testing even if it did exist.
Overall I do not think such a chemical exists, but the idea is good and worthwhile, you may suggest it to people working on vector control (malaria control of WHO). They might into it. Contact them on the WHO site.
Ravi Ghooi
