HEALTH Q and A

Fighting dengue at home

We’re so occupied with H1N1 we seem to have forgotten what experts say is a more deadly disease: dengue. To prevent dengue at home, a reader has come up with this homemade recipe for a mosquito trap: It’s just a mix of water, brown sugar, and yeast.

Here’s the procedure:

Cut a plastic bottle (can be a soft drink bottle) in half, keep both parts. Take the lower portion of the bottle. Dissolve the brown sugar in hot water. Let it cool down to ~70°F. Add the yeast. Carbon dioxide will form (this will attract the mosquitoes). Cover the bottle with a dark wrap and insert in the top portion upside down like a funnel. Place it in a corner in your house. In two weeks, you will be surprised by the number of mosquitoes killed.