Lean, mean, biting machines – Are you top of the mosquito menu?
A new study by US researchers has found that some of us really are “mosquito magnets” and it probably has to do with the way we smell.
Mosquitoes are attracted to people who produce a lot of chemicals on their skin that are tied to smell.
Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York explained…
“If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites. There’s a lot of folklore about who gets bitten more, but many claims aren’t backed up with strong evidence.”
An experiment pitted people’s scents against each other, said Maria Elena De Obaldia. Researchers asked volunteers to wear nylon stockings around their forearms to pick up their skin smells. The stockings were then put into separate traps and dozens of mosquitos were released.
De Obaldia said…
“They would swarm to the most attractive subjects. It became very obvious right away.”
In a round-robin tournament, the biggest mosquito magnet was around 100 times more attractive than the last-place finisher.
The experiment used the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue. The success of Ae. aegypti has largely been due to globalisation. It thrives in densely populated areas which lack reliable water supplies, waste management and sanitation.
By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that the big differences stick around. Mosquito magnets remain mosquito magnets.
Mosquito magnets had high levels of “greasy molecules” – part of the skin’s natural moisturising layer. Healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat the acids and produce part of our skin’s odour profile, and you can’t get rid of these acids without damaging your skin.
But there may be ways to tinker with bacteria and change the smell. Taking a shower around 5pm probably won’t do you any harm.
