There are a number of health concerns associated with living in the tropics. These include heat related stress, alcoholism, sunburn/skin cancer, insect pests and vectors of disease.
Among the latter are mosquito pests and mosquito vectors of epidemic polyarthritis and Australian encephalitis (Whelan, 1984 ).
Because of the Darwin climate with a hot wet summer season between October and April, medically important insects such as mosquitoes and biting midges are of particular concern in terms of their nuisance value. High levels of mosquitoes biting people can be such that a normal life style can be disturbed.