The resurgence of bed bugs is a global phenomenon, but until now reports on bed bug infestations in Indonesia are rare. The success of bed bug control is affected by people's knowledge and awareness. Stigma against bed bugs in Indonesia discourages the public from reporting infestations and therefore knowledge of their impact on public health is scarce. Herein, this study investigates the public's perception, attitudes, and knowledge on bed bug-related issues in several major cities in Indonesia through an online survey. Despite low case reports, three in five respondents (n = 600) have encountered bed bugs at least once; mostly in their homes (74.1%). Approximately half of the respondents correctly identified bed bugs, whereas mites were often misidentified for bed bugs (26.3%). Bite marks were not a useful indicator for detecting bed bugs. We found age, gender, and level of education affects the public's perception toward various bed bug-related issues. Regarding bed bug treatment, above 50% respondents are unaware of the availability of bed bug-specific insecticidal products and are unwilling to pay pest management professionals to control infestation. This study provides the first overview of the public's awareness and perception of bed bug infestations in some major cities of Indonesia, which can be useful for designing public health policies for bed bug management. The reported data represents the perspectives of online users, most likely from metropolitan regions. A bigger monitoring program encompassing pest professionals and hospitality businesses would give a more thorough overview of the bed bug impact in Indonesia.
This research serves as the basis for developing essential oil-based repellent activity tests against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The method used for the isolation of essential oils was the steam distillation method. Virus-free Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were used as test animals by applying the 10% essential oil repellent on the arms of volunteers. The analysis of the essential oils activities and aromas' components was carried out using headspace repellent and GC-MS methods. Based on the results, the yields of essential oil from 5000 g samples for cinnamon bark, clove flowers, patchouli, nutmeg seed, lemongrass, citronella grass, and turmeric rhizome were 1.9%, 16%, 2.2%, 16.8%, 0.9%, 1.4%, and 6.8%, respectively. The activity test showed that the average repellent power of 10% essential oils, patchouli, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, clove flowers, citronella grass, and lemongrass, was 95.2%, 83.8%, 71.4%, 94.7%, 71.4%, 80.4%, and 85%, respectively. Patchouli and cinnamon had the best average repellent power. Meanwhile, the aroma activities showed that the average repellent power of the patchouli oil was 96%, and the cinnamon oil was 94%. From the GC-MS analysis, nine components were identified in the patchouli essential oil aromas' with the highest concentration being patchouli alcohol (42.7%), Azulene, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,4-dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl)-, [1S-(1α,7α,8aβ)] (10.8%), α-guaiene (9.22%), and seychellene (8.19%)., whereas using the GC-MS headspace repellent method showed that there were seven components identified in the patchouli essential oil aroma with a high concentration of the components, which were patchouli alcohol (52.5%), Seychellene (5.2%), and α-guaiene (5.2%). The analysis results of cinnamon essential oil using the GC-MS method showed that there were five components identified in the aroma, with E-cinnamaldehyde (73%) being the highest component, whereas using the GC-MS headspace repellent method showed that there were five components identified in the aroma, with highest concentrations of cinnamaldehyde (86.1%). It can be concluded that the chemical compounds contained in patchouli and cinnamon bark have the potential to be environmentally friendly repellents in controlling and preventing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.