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Who wouldn’t know that buzzing around your body, especially at night when you forget to close the window. You keep turning on the light until you manage to kill that small, annoying insect. But it’s already too late. In the morning your body is covered in red blisters. Mosquito bites itch, sometimes take a long time to heal, and lately they are also dangerous because mosquitoes can transmit Lyme disease. Let’s take a look at what happens when a mosquito bites you.
How can it suck your blood
A mosquito has specially developed mouthparts for biting. By smell it can find a spot where there is a vessel or vein under the skin. When it bites you, at first you don’t feel it because the mosquito can temporarily numb our nerves. That’s why we feel its bite with a delay. Meanwhile it injects a substance into the wound with its saliva that prevents the blood from clotting. If it didn’t do that, our body would send platelets to the puncture site, and they would plug the wound so we stop bleeding. Meanwhile the mosquito feeds on our blood. It can take up to 4 minutes to suck enough blood to stop. For small creatures, that can mean their death, because a swarm of mosquitoes can completely drain them.
What happens next?
The mosquito’s saliva causes a blood vessel at the puncture site to dilate and the blood not to clot. However, the saliva also contains toxins that cause itching, and in some people an allergic reaction. That’s why some people have a spot that is red and swollen for several days after a bite. However, our body is well equipped to fight the small parasite, and in a short time the wound will heal. It will likewise deal with the toxic substances from the saliva.
Why they go for some people and not others
A mosquito looks for victims by scent. Some people have bacteria on their skin that literally attract it. So it will attack as soon as it senses them. Washing with a dermatological soap and using repellent helps. Chemical ones work for one season, and then it’s better to try a different one. Natural repellents, on the other hand, work continuously. These are various essential oils, like eucalyptus, thyme, and lavender. Therefore always prepare for the mosquito season in advance so your body doesn’t look like you have chickenpox. In addition, you protect yourself from diseases they can transmit to you. As the planet warms, malaria has already appeared in Europe. And it is transmitted by mosquito bites. The truth is that only females suck blood. However, you’ll notice the difference between the sexes only when your body is covered in red blisters.
