Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor 05.23.22
Muggy summer nights in 1970s Taiwan left Dr. Jessica Wu, then a five-year-old girl romping around outside her childhood home, with welts from mosquito bites. Apart from the incessant itching caused by a polka dot of unsightly marks, her allergic reaction to the blood-sucking winged pests made her little legs swell twice their size–the scars of which she bears to this day.
Flashforward to the present, the Harvard Medical School alum and renowned dermatologist has been treating patients for myriad skin conditions, including insect bites, at her Los Angeles practice, for nearly 30 years. She also serves as an educator at the University of Southern California and lecturer at medical conferences both national and abroad. On May 17, Dr. Wu, a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and the Medical Council of the American Society for Nutrition, appeared at the Wilson Hotel in New York City to promote two of the latest product innovations from Off! to keep adults and children protected and healthy from disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks as they enjoy their grassy backyards after hours, early-morning boardwalk jogs and woodsy hiking trips.
The two products are Off! Clean Feel for adults and Off! Kids Insect Repellent Spray. The Clean Feel formula for adults comes in a 4- and 5-ounce spray and aerosol, respectively. The fragrance-free bug repellents provide DEET-free protection from mosquitoes, ticks and biting flies. DEET, whose chemical name is N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, is the active ingredient in several repellent products commonly used to repel mosquitoes and ticks, some of which carry viruses including West Nile and Zika, or malaria and tick-borne diseases like Lyme and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. While an estimated one-third of the US population use DEET to protect themselves from such insect bites, the active has been at times infamous with causing irritation, redness, rashes and swelling when left on the skin for extended periods. Off! Clean Feel for adults is formulated with 20% picaridin, an active ingredient allowing for eight-hour protection minus the irritation.
The Off! Kids Insect Repellent Spray is a plant-based formula and provides up to 90 minutes of protection against unwanted bug bites at a time. Powered by natural essential oils including rosemary, citronella, geranium, cedarwood, peppermint, lemongrass and soybean, the kids’ formula is also DEET- and fragrance-free, and goes on clean and dries fast without a sticky feeling.
“Off! has a wonderful breadth and depth of different products that suits your activity level and suits whatever ingredients you feel are best for you and your family,” said Wu.
Prevention is the Best Protection Against Bug Bites
Mosquito bites are attracted to the carbon dioxide humans breathe out. While people with Type O Blood have also been cited as a prime target for the bloodsucking nuisances, fragrance is also believed a strong attraction for pests.
“A recent survey showed two-thirds of Americans are not putting on their bug spray correctly because they’re waiting until they leave the house to apply their spray, and by then it’s too late,” explained Wu. “You may have already been bitten and think about applying your bug spray, just like waiting until you are sunburned to apply your sunscreen. It’s good to always have it available and apply it to your daily routine before you head out the door.”
With a mission to help consumers “beat the bite,” SC Johnson entomologists coined the word “PREtection”— prevention being the best protection. To achieve this, consumers are encouraged to follow a pretection summer ritual of applying their sunscreen followed by the Off! repellent spray.
“After you wash your face in the morning, apply light moisturizer, sunscreen with SPF 30-50 and then follow that with your bug spray as your last step,” said Wu to about a dozen attendees who were present at the product launch luncheon Tuesday. “Then, you head out the door and you’re protected for the day.”
The Off! formulas can be lightly sprayed on after sunscreen application. For maximum protection, spray should be spread evenly with hands to moisten all exposed skin.
“You don’t need to soak it and you don’t want it to be dripping everywhere,” said Dr. Wu. “Hold six to eight inches away and spray on an even coat. Let it dry, unless you’re treating your face or child’s face. [In that case] spray it onto palms and apply it to face, being careful of eyes, nose and mouth.”
In the event people do get bit by mosquitoes, Dr. Wu offers some great care tips.
“If their skin is not broken, you can use ice, topical Benadryl,” she says.
While dilute vinegar is another at-home remedy that can be used to sooth the itch with a cotton ball, it’s more of an antiseptic, Wu says
For people with intense itching who refuse to treat the affected area and instead compulsively scratch their skin until it breaks, she has a caveat: don’t.
“If it’s already been scratched open, there is potential for bacteria to get in there [causing] staph infections,” she says.
She then encourages them to use antibiotic ointment and cover the affected area with a bandage until it heals.
If the wound continues to swell and there is puss, antibiotics may need to be administered and the person should see a doctor.
“If it’s bigger than a plain M&M see a doctor,” she said. “It could be a sign of an allergic reaction, infection, especially if it’s growing day to day.”
Checking the weather forecast is easy, but what a mosquito tracker? Now available on the OFF! Repellent official website, the Off!Cast can tell consumers what the mosquito prevalence is for the week–low, medium or high. Just type in the zip code and access the information in seconds. Consumers can also sign up to get their local mosquito forecast delivered weekly on the website.
The Off! Clean Feel for Adults and OFF! Kids Insect Repellent Spray are available at major retailers and online at OFF.com.
The Off! Clean Feel for Adults and OFF! Kids Insect Repellent Spray are available at major retailers and online at OFF.com.