Introduction
Every summer Florida is often hit by a swarm of mosquitoes that are very irritating because of their bites, deadly diseases they may cause, and the sound they make especially during the night. On numerous occasions many of us have fallen victim to irritating and sometimes painful mosquito bites. However, in most cases we often tend to ignore these bites mainly we are not too worried about serious disease, unless one has been reported in our local area. Another reason why most people tend to give very little attention to mosquito bites is because they mainly happen over summer; people completely forget about them, once summer passes and cool dry weather returns. In the past I was personally among the ignorant until I read an old newspaper article dated July 9, 2014 and the article was about a patient who had been diagnosed with the first and only case of Dengue fever acquired locally via a mosquito. Dengue is a deadly disease that is often spread by mosquitoes and if a person lacks proper medical attention in reasonable time the disease could lead to death. Ever since I read this article I have been left with a burning desire to research why mosquito bites only tend to occur during the summer. I would also want to find out more about how these bites can be stopped or how one can keep safe from this irritating and sometimes dangerous pest. My main research question is why the mosquito population in the county is being reported to be on the increase and what this means for the future given that mosquitos are associated with deadly disease such as Malaria, Dengue fever and Chikungunya. I chose this topic after realizing that the mosquito bite, which is often ignored as a non-issue, can turn tragic if caution is not taken. By the end of my research study I hope to find out why the mosquito population is increasing and the dangers posed by this increase. Methods For this research I used three main primary research techniques, namely Observations, Questionnaire and conducting two interviews. My research study was conducted in Collier County at mainly the Collier Mosquito Control District research facility. I also administered several questionnaires to the people residing in Collier about the mosquito bites and whether they had noticed any increase in the number of mosquito bites they were experiencing per day. From my observations I was able to hook up with Danny Wicks, whom is a Collier County mosquito inspector and the man who would help me out with my research study. …show more content…
For two days I joined him on his routine job, which was to inspect on mosquitoes on a daily basis. Both mornings at dawn, I would join Danny Wicks and his team of mosquito inspectors where we would go out into the woods to conduct the observations. The technique used was that everyone would separately stand on one specific spot for five to ten minutes and count the number of mosquito bites they would experience during this period. We moved to various locations within the county where we noticed that the number of mosquito bites in a given period of time differed depending on the proximity to a body of water, swamps or bush (Pierce, Henry, Blum, & Mueller, 2005).
To enhance the information gathered from the various observations that I conducted during the two days, I administered my questionnaire to several residents of Collier County. Every day after conducting research observations I would administer my questionnaires to several residents of the county and in particular attendants at gas stations, shops and other business premises within the county. Every time I administered these questionnaires I made sure that they were done on different people. This ensured that my sample was rich in content. In terms of the interview, I did not have to go far to look for a credible interviewee. Danny Wick is a hugely experienced mosquito inspector as it is his full time job for the last three decades. This made me feel that he was the right candidate for me to conduct an interview with. The statistics of the number of patients he had received with mosquito related illness and whether he had noticed an increase in the number of mosquito related
Every summer Florida is often hit by a swarm of mosquitoes that are very irritating because of their bites, deadly diseases they may cause, and the sound they make especially during the night. On numerous occasions many of us have fallen victim to irritating and sometimes painful mosquito bites. However, in most cases we often tend to ignore these bites mainly we are not too worried about serious disease, unless one has been reported in our local area. Another reason why most people tend to give very little attention to mosquito bites is because they mainly happen over summer; people completely forget about them, once summer passes and cool dry weather returns. In the past I was personally among the ignorant until I read an old newspaper article dated July 9, 2014 and the article was about a patient who had been diagnosed with the first and only case of Dengue fever acquired locally via a mosquito. Dengue is a deadly disease that is often spread by mosquitoes and if a person lacks proper medical attention in reasonable time the disease could lead to death. Ever since I read this article I have been left with a burning desire to research why mosquito bites only tend to occur during the summer. I would also want to find out more about how these bites can be stopped or how one can keep safe from this irritating and sometimes dangerous pest. My main research question is why the mosquito population in the county is being reported to be on the increase and what this means for the future given that mosquitos are associated with deadly disease such as Malaria, Dengue fever and Chikungunya. I chose this topic after realizing that the mosquito bite, which is often ignored as a non-issue, can turn tragic if caution is not taken. By the end of my research study I hope to find out why the mosquito population is increasing and the dangers posed by this increase. Methods For this research I used three main primary research techniques, namely Observations, Questionnaire and conducting two interviews. My research study was conducted in Collier County at mainly the Collier Mosquito Control District research facility. I also administered several questionnaires to the people residing in Collier about the mosquito bites and whether they had noticed any increase in the number of mosquito bites they were experiencing per day. From my observations I was able to hook up with Danny Wicks, whom is a Collier County mosquito inspector and the man who would help me out with my research study. …show more content…
For two days I joined him on his routine job, which was to inspect on mosquitoes on a daily basis. Both mornings at dawn, I would join Danny Wicks and his team of mosquito inspectors where we would go out into the woods to conduct the observations. The technique used was that everyone would separately stand on one specific spot for five to ten minutes and count the number of mosquito bites they would experience during this period. We moved to various locations within the county where we noticed that the number of mosquito bites in a given period of time differed depending on the proximity to a body of water, swamps or bush (Pierce, Henry, Blum, & Mueller, 2005).
To enhance the information gathered from the various observations that I conducted during the two days, I administered my questionnaire to several residents of Collier County. Every day after conducting research observations I would administer my questionnaires to several residents of the county and in particular attendants at gas stations, shops and other business premises within the county. Every time I administered these questionnaires I made sure that they were done on different people. This ensured that my sample was rich in content. In terms of the interview, I did not have to go far to look for a credible interviewee. Danny Wick is a hugely experienced mosquito inspector as it is his full time job for the last three decades. This made me feel that he was the right candidate for me to conduct an interview with. The statistics of the number of patients he had received with mosquito related illness and whether he had noticed an increase in the number of mosquito related