Taking advantage of the dengue fever epidemic, fake mosquito repellent is widely sold.

Due to high demand, many fake mosquito repellants have appeared on the market, mixed into stores and sold openly and widely.

At present, when dengue fever is still complicated, the best measure applied by people is to spray mosquito repellent. Due to high demand, many fake mosquito repellent brands have appeared on the market, mixed into stores and sold openly and widely. It is difficult for consumers to distinguish between genuine products and poor quality products, floating products of unknown origin.

To buy a mosquito repellent product is not difficult, consumers just need to search on google with the phrase "mosquito repellent" and hundreds of different results will appear. The most recommended mosquito repellent products are: Icon 2.5CS, Map Permethrin 50EC, Fendona 10SC, Perme Uk 50 EC, ...

The products are advertised as imported from England and Germany with prices ranging from 500,000 to 800,000 VND/bottle depending on the capacity and origin. A small 100ml bottle costs only 80,000 VND. The most popular mosquito repellent product today is Permethrin 50EC and this is also the most counterfeited product.

Genuine Permethrin 50 EC mosquito repellent is sold at the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

Surveying Phuong Mai Street and Truong Chinh Street, Hanoi, entering most of the medical equipment and chemical stores, asking about the most popular mosquito repellent on the market today is Permethrin 50EC, the sales staff gave many different models and capacities (including 1 liter, 250ml, glass bottles, aluminum bottles) but with the same brand Permethrin 50EC. The price of a bottle of Permethrin 50EC mosquito repellent with a capacity of 250ml is 150 thousand VND. This price is only 2/3 cheaper than the price of genuine products.

The seller tried to guarantee that it was a company's product and said: "We should use an iron box because an iron box is more secure... I can only earn money from you if I get it from a place you don't know, but if everyone knows, how can I earn money... The epidemic department has already inspected it, the company gives it to us, so we just have to sell it and don't ask about the origin."

According to the Hanoi Center for Preventive Medicine, how to identify Permethrin 50EC mosquito repellent, fake products have a pure white cap, dark brown glass shell, and a dark red mosquito image. Real products have an opaque white cap, dark brown shell, and especially the bottom of the real product has a raised logo, while fake products do not.

After the news of fake mosquito repellent, the Hanoi Preventive Medicine Department requested the police and market management to handle all cases of selling fake drugs. Therefore, the buying and selling of mosquito repellent on Phuong Mai Street has been quite quiet during this time. Consumers are indifferent, but many are also worried about the quality of the products and how to distinguish between genuine and fake products.

"My family uses the ward's mosquito spraying service, and I also buy other types of insect sprays for use. I was also very confused when I heard that there were fake mosquito repellents on the market. When I went to the pharmacy, I only bought the best kind and the seller always said it was the company's product, but I didn't know if it was real or fake. I really hope that the authorities will soon intervene to deal with the fake situation so that consumers can feel more secure," said a customer.

Permethrin 50 EC drugs are floating on the market.

According to the Hanoi Center for Preventive Medicine, there are drugs that are allowed to be used in the human environment, but there are drugs used for agriculture that are not good for human health. Mosquito repellents have ingredients that are not as stated on the packaging, and some even use chemicals that the World Health Organization recommends for use only in agriculture. These drugs can cause poisoning when people come into contact with them, causing allergies, sneezing, runny nose, and more seriously, acute poisoning such as vomiting and convulsions.

Doctor Ha Tan Dung - Head of the Department of Parasitology and Insects (Hanoi Center for Preventive Medicine) warned: "People must buy medicine at the right stores with clear origins and agents. Places such as the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Central Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology all have stores selling and introducing products of the companies.

As for the stores that sell drugs on the market, people must check if they have a registration number from the Ministry of Health, otherwise many places will confuse them with chemicals used in agriculture. If people need advice on buying drugs, they can call the hotline of the Center for Preventive Medicine.

Faced with the current situation of mixed real and fake mosquito repellents, people need to buy pesticides at reputable places such as the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, with stamps certifying that they meet standards and are allowed to use, and not arbitrarily buy mosquito repellents to spray. If you have to spray mosquito repellents, you should hire reputable service companies to spray properly./.

According to VOV