Harvard University Health Services has sent us all a memo about “best practices for protecting yourself and the community”. Six of the ten bullet-point recommendations concern ticks and mosquitoes, including this one:

• Avoid outdoor activities from dusk to dawn.

So I’ve looked around on the web. It seems that mosquitoes kill 1 or 2 people per year on average in Massachusetts through Eastern Equine Encephalitis or West Nile Virus, and ticks perhaps a similar number through Powassan virus or Lyme disease. Meanwhile my rough estimates are that Massachusetts can expect around the following numbers of deaths this year from various other causes:

150 homicides
400 car accidents
400 Covid
600 suicides
700 flu
1000 falls
1000 other non-auto injuries
2000 opioid overdoses

Do I conclude that Harvard is foolish to tell us to stay indoors after dusk? To tell the truth I’m not sure what I conclude; but the numbers are striking.

[12 September 2024]