Toward comfortable mosquito-proof clothing: repellent- and insecticide-free fabrics that block bites across three disease-transmitting mosquito genera

Mosquito-borne disease and nuisance biting from mosquitoes have severe health and economic consequences. Conventional fabrics are typically not effective at providing protection against mosquito bites, and fabrics treated with repellents and/or insecticides are limited by rising insecticide resistance, risk of significant dermatologic and neurologic side effects, and decreased efficacy with washing and time. The goal of this study was to identify commercially available, repellent/insecticide-free, comfortable fabrics that block bites from three genera of mosquitoes that are known to transmit dangerous infectious diseases with widespread distribution: Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex. To do this, we evaluated fabrics from Ripstop By the Roll LLC in a step-wise series of mouse blood-feeding and behavioral bioassays. Out of 88 fabrics, 53 were found to be blood-feed-proof. These fabrics were more likely to have a higher areal weight density (AWD) and a polyurethane coating than blood-feed-susceptible fabrics. Of the six most comfortable fabrics by subjective hand-feel testing, five were definitively bite-proof during behavioral bioassays. These five fabrics varied substantially in AWD, thickness, finish/coating, and fiber pattern. None of them had a polyurethane coating. Three of them were breathable, making them appropriate for active-wear clothing. Overall, the bite-proof fabrics identified in this study have the potential to significantly reduce mosquito biting and the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.