Genes, blood type and even beer drinking is reason to be attracted to so many mosquitoes?

 

Studies have proofed that various factors, from your blood type to how often you shower, can all affect the chance of getting bitten. 

 

'When a mosquito bites and draws blood, it also injects saliva into you to stop your blood from clotting,' explains Dr Martin Donnelly, from the School of Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool.

 

'Proteins and enzymes in this saliva are what cause the irritation and itchiness.'

Whether or not your will get bitten all comes down to the 'perfect combination of genetics and scent', explains presenter Craig Benzine, in the video produced by Mental Floss.

 

'Eighty-five per cent of the reason why mosquitoes prefer you is genetic,' he says.
 

Studies have shown the insects are attracted to sweat, lactic acid, uric acid and octenol. Lactic acid is released through pores in the skin, particularly after exercise.

  

Blood type can also influence how likely you are to get bitten, research has shown  Some people naturally release more of these chemicals than others. If you exercise outside you tend to produce more lactic acid.
 

Mosquitoes also seem to like higher body temperatures, and body temperature goes up when we exercise - another reason why you may be more prone to bites after a work-out. 

Mr Benzine adds that the older the sweat - say a day or so - then the more attractive you are to mosquitoes - hence frequent showering could make you less of a target.
 

'Mozzies that carry malaria are attracted to sweat that's been sitting on the skin for more than one day'. 
 

Blood type can also influence how likely you are to get bitten, he says.

Research has shown that people with Type O blood are twice as likely to get bitten as those with Type B.
 

Furthermore, 85 per cent of us excrete a chemical which tells mosquitoes what blood type we are - and these people are more likely to be pursued than the 15 per cent who don't. 
 

Female mosquitoes use a range of techniques to find prey. But one of the most important is the presence of carbon dioxide - the invisible, odourless gas we breathe out.
 

In 2002, a Japanese study of 13 volunteers found that those who drank a single bottle of beer were more attractive to mosquitoes.

The researchers believed drinking beer increases body temperature and the amount of alcohol in that is in a person’s sweat.

 

Two years ago, a French study of 15 volunteers again found that beer drinkers were slightly more likely to get bitten.

Researchers haven’t shown whether the effect is the same with wine or spirits, or whether an ingredient in beer aside from alcohol changes the smell of skin.