Dengue Causing Aedes Smells And Then Bites: Are You A Mosquito magnet?

Dengue Causing Aedes Smells – Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have a strong innate drive to hunt humans using sensory cues including exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2), body heat, and skin odour

Dengue continues to cause havoc in several parts of the country. The national capital registered 635 new cases in the first 12 days of October. Mumbai also has shown an uptick in infections with nearly 178 cases having been reported in the first 16 days of the month. Reportedly, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday cancelled leaves of doctors and paramedical staff in the wake of rising cases in the state. While the casualty has remained low so far but the virus never fails to haunt the country every year. As the terror of the disease continues to grow, it is interesting to note that some people are more attractive to this mosquito than others.

A new study finds that some people are “mosquito magnets” and the reason behind this has a lot to do with how they smell. As per the study, mosquitoes are attracted to people who have certain chemicals on their skin that are closely tied to body odour. If your skin has carboxylic acids in excess, you might be a picnic to the Aedes mosquito which is an efficient vector of viruses including yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue, zika and others.

Aedes has favourites

The Study Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels, published in the Journal Cell, involved 64 subjects. The researchers asked the subjects to wear nylon stockings on their forearms. This was done to pick up their body odour. Once done, the nylon strips were collected and then exposed to mosquitoes. It was observed that the mosquitoes swarmed around a few strips which scientists have called the “attractive” types. The distinction made by the mosquitoes was obvious to the scholarly eyes. On analysis, it was found that highly attractive humans had higher levels of various carboxylic acids on their skin as compared to the non-attractive ones. When the nylons of the attractive humans were diluted, then confusion loomed over these mosquitoes who were no longer able to differentiate between the lesser and more attractive subjects. This suggested that skin odour was the primary driver behind a mosquito choosing to bite a human being.

Mosquito magnets might remain so forever

Human odour is a mixture of many organic compounds. It has not been studied in depth that is human odour consistent over time. People who produce these greasy chemicals in excess might even continue to produce them over time. It is believed that healthy bacteria eat up these chemicals and this determines our skin odour to some extent. Humans who are attractive to mosquitoes might produce an odour that is pleasant to them whereas less attractive ones might produce an odour that repels these insects. Previous studies have shown that when carboxylic acids which are pretty much neutral are infused with ammonia and lactic acid, then the mixture might suddenly become attractive to mosquitoes.

Attracts and Repels

Studies over time have shown that certain chemicals and odour either attract mosquitoes or repel them. Here are a few existing findings to date which might or might not stand true to the time-

1. Blood group differences decide mosquito attractiveness
2. Garlic vapours can repel mosquitoes
3. Pregnancy and beer consumption can enhance attraction

Aedes can hunt you down

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have a strong innate drive to hunt humans using sensory cues including exhaled carbon dioxide (CO₂), body heat, and skin odour. A single female mosquito will bite multiple humans during her 3- to 6-week lifetime to obtain sufficient protein to produce a new batch of eggs as often as every 4 days.