Death by mosquito

It is possible to die because of a mosquito? Apart from the well known malaria one gets from the infected female anoples, anopheses anopheles mosquito, is it really possible? I am convinced that it would be possible to torture a human being to death simply by exposing him to a swarm of hungry mosquitos day in day out, not to sting him to death but to drive him slowly insane to the point of suicide..............by the incessant buzzing they make just as you are about to fall asleep. Let me tell you my story!!

 Last night was one of those agonising evenings that starts off badly and then cruelly snowballs into a worse night.  I left the office by 5.10 pm alive to the fact that it had started raining so this meant that by all means I had to avoid Westlands and whatever mischief it had in store due to the rains to get home sane and in one piece. I therefore chose to take the long scenic route home via Waiyaki Way, Kangemi, Loresho, Lower Kabete Road, Ngecha Road then on to Runda, Kiambu Road and home-sweet-home. As I approached Ridgeways Mall I decided to drop in at the Nakumatt and buy a few items that were needed, including my supper, and then proceed home a stop over of at most 10 minutes.

Shock on me because after my brief shopping expedition, I realised that there was a tailback into the mall because of a fender bender involving three vehicles at the entrance to the Mall on Kiambu Road. Needless to say it took an agonising 30 minutes for me to exit the Mall and get home where I learnt that there had been a power blackout since 4.00 pm much to my chagrin.

Groceries unpacked, dinner hurriedly cooked by my darling wife and then after reading by torchlight for some 30 minutes, intermittently and fruitlessly trying to contact KPLC to report the blackout,  I decided that it was time to get between the sheets and go to bed.....time check 8.30 pm!! I swear that I had hardly slept 30 minutes when a familiar buzzing sound arose me from a deep slumber.

Now there is nothing quite so irritating as a mosquito dive bombing and buzzing your ear at midnight. It is like the loudest sound in hell, because my vision of hell is millions of mosquitos whose buzz is amplified to drown out the crackling of the devil's fires, perpetually dive bombing your ear as you lie in bed at night (unless it is perpetual night in hell in which case it is 1000 times worse) and without a stitch of clothing, bedding or mosquito net to hide behind to shield yourself from these kamikaze mosquitos. The sound is so irritating that try as you might you cannot fall asleep and even hidden under the beddings you still hear that incessant whine above the din of the night.

So there I was, lights still off, torch in hand off to look for the dregs of the long forgotten mosquito repellent somewhere in the depths of the kitchen store hoping against hope that the house help had not thrown it away. Having retrieved the can, shaken it to confirm that there was still some life threatening residue within, I triumphantly strode back to the bedroom and then gleefully commenced to spray paint the room with the deadly repellent in a bid to eliminate the offending pests and consign them to their own hell where arrows of 'doom' follow their every foray. Satisfied with a job well done I crept back into bed as the incessant screams, yelps and gasps of breath from dying mosquitos filled the room.......and drifted off into a blissfull sleep with the only noise being that of the beating rain, the rustling trees and the occasional ambient traffic noises off in the distance......sheer heaven!!

Now, suppose that I had been unable to get that spray can of repellent, or it had been consigned to the rubbish dump by the maid unaware that there was something still inside, would I have had a good night's sleep, would I have been refreshed in the morning raring to go, or would I have been a nervous wreck, bleary eyed from lack of sleep and prone to cause an accident on my way to work. Your guess is as good as mine but I hope my point is made that even without its deadly malaria a mosquito can cause death in other ways.