Science Explains Why Mosquitoes are Attracted to You

If you were asked to solve a riddle where the unknown thing has 6 legs, two wings, lives everywhere on earth except Antarctica, and every human hates it, then you would mention Mosquitoes. As little as they are, they are able to bring the strongest person down with one bite and when they do, they carry different diseases that they infect man with, depending on the specie and the disease being carried but then, why does it look like mosquitoes are attracted to you than your friend?

Mosquitoes kill hundreds of thousands of people yearly and is responsible for the reason why millions of people are sick annually with the most vulnerable being children and pregnant women, and no other specie has a bite that makes more humans sick transferring more than one type of disease to us than them. It is also good that we know that only females bite us because they need blood to make eggs.

As children we also say that the reason why mosquitoes would frequently bite a person but not others was because their blood was sweet while our were bitter, but do we have sweet bloods? Actually, blood are metallic but if we are to follow what I read on National Institutes of Health Journal (NIH), Mosquitoes are primarily attracted to carbon dioxide which means that people with higher metabolic rate that causes them to exhale more CO₂ are are attractive to mosquitoes. Under this category are people who are pregnant, overweight, exercising, and people who drink alcohol.

Research has shown that mosquitoes do not bite cold blooded animals so when we sweat, we release pheromones which also attracts mosquitoes to us, and since we are warm blooded, we are a better alternative. Talking about blood, research has also shown that the type of blood a person has can indicate why they attract mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are known to be attracted to people with blood type O more than blood type A, and research has confirmed this. Scientists were also able to look at chemicals that could attract mosquitoes, and these chemicals are 3-Methyl Butanoic Acid, 2-methyl butanoic acid, Tridecane, and hexanoic acid but then these chemicals were found in mice and not in humans.

This little creature isn't human's friend at all and they can send someone to an hospital bed with blood vision, spasm, and meningitis which is the inflammation of the vertebra and brain fluid like in the case of West Nile Virus, but then there are other diseases like Dengue Virus, Zika Virus, and Yellow Fever, not forgetting malaria and many others.

Currently, repelling mosquitoes can be done easily either through natural methods like lavender, or using chemicals like N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). Although research has not been able to show that using DEET is associated with negative effects in humans, it can be harmful when consumed or used in excess in an enclosed place. While you look at killing mosquitoes, remember that mosquito eggs can stay up to 15 years in soil in hibernation.

Mosquitoes, despite their small size, wield significant influence over human health, spreading diseases and causing widespread discomfort. Understanding the factors that attract mosquitoes to certain individuals can aid in developing effective prevention strategies. By employing various repellents and adopting environmentally conscious pest control methods, we can mitigate the impact of these troublesome insects on global health and well-being.

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_{https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-mosquitoes-seem-to-bite-some-people-more-36425
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463982/
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https://www.healthline.com/health/mosquito-blood-type#blood-type-preference
https://lcmcd.com/faqs/q-why-do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34505747/
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7033509/}

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_{Image Reference}

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_{Image 1 || Flickr || Full mosquito
Image 2 || Open Clip Art || Aedes Mosquito Male and Female}