E-Paper
Study sheds light on why mosquitoes bite some people more
Dr Jonathan Day, a medical entomologist and mosquito expert at the University of Florida, told the Time magazine there’s evidence that O blood type attracts mosquitoes more than others (A or B).
The rainy season has arrived, which will see a spurt in mosquito bites. The tiny creatures leave a reddish - and sometimes puffy - bump on the skin where they bite. The bump is usually a hard and itchy one.
But people always want to know if mosquitoes prefer some of them more than the others. According to scientists, yes. A research published in the Time magazine in 2014 said that people will O blood type have more probability of being bitten by mosquitoes.
Dr Jonathan Day, a medical entomologist and mosquito expert at the University of Florida, told Time there’s evidence that O blood type attracts mosquitoes more than others (A or B).
Dr Day also said that the human skin keeps secreting various chemicals, including lactic acid which attracts the mosquitoes. And some people produce more of such chemicals, making them easy target for the mosquitoes, said the expert.
He also said that mosquitoes use carbon dioxide (CO2) to identify bite target. Dr Day said that all vertebrates produce carbon dioxide which makes it easier for the mosquitoes to target them.
He added that pregnant women and obese people, who have a higher resting metabolic rates are more attractive to mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are the carriers of many disease like dengue, chikangunya and malaria. And the spread of the disease increases during the monsoon time. However, much to the relief of general public, they cannot spread the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
According to US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no data to suggest that Covid-19 is spread by either mosquitoes or ticks. It is mainly spread from person to person through droplets people spray when they talk, cough or sneeze. The World Health Organisation has also said that a mosquito bite won’t give you the virus.
