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Why do some people get eaten by mosquitoes more, while others hardly ever get bitten? This is the question to which scientists and many of us would like to have the answer. A recent study published in the journal Cell sheds some interesting light. It suggests that certain components of the skin, which participate in body odor, would be decisive.
If mosquitoes like you, it’s probably because your body odor is a heady perfume for the insect, which attracts it like a magnet. The scent trail is the strongest theory in the scientific community today. But what exactly intoxicates the mosquito? This is the question that American researchers wanted to answer.
They asked about sixty volunteers to wear nylon socks on their forearms for six hours a day, on several occasions. Their socks impregnated with their smell were subjected to Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, which are vectors in particular of dengue fever and yellow fever. The researchers used a Plexiglas box with two compartments – in each a piece of sock – and they noted the choice of insects.
No impact of food and soap
Result of this particular tournament: the volunteer that the mosquitoes preferred was a hundred times more attractive than the one that was the least. After analysis, what sets it apart is the high level of carboxylic acids, chemical components that contribute to body odor and are produced by sebum, a skin barrier. Food and soap don’t seem to have an impact.
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Of course, there are still questions: would other types of mosquitoes, such as those that carry malaria, react in the same way? And can we develop skin creams that would act on these acids? In any case, a track opens up for research.