Hacker News Reader

Comment by davesque | Hacker News Reader

I'm aware that this is a known technique and thought has been given to whether or not it will impact the food chain, etc. But I do wonder this: has anyone considered what the effect will be of removing this constant source of stimulation for our immune systems?

View on HN

Do normal (non-infected) mosquito bites do much for your immune system? I know it will have an effect (because every action has an effect) but will it even be noticeable?

Both good questions.

As mentioned in the article, this species only appeared in the area 4 years ago, so I doubt removing them would be an issue to our immune system.

True. But I feel like some of the rhetoric I see in these comments touches on the idea of eliminating all mosquitos.

Risk vs. Reward. Even if you could argue some benefit from the "immune system stimulation" straw man, I guarantee you the benefits from eliminating the vector for debilating and in some cases fatal diseases far, far outweigh the risks.

In large parts of the world mosquitoes can kill you through a variety of diseases. The Yellow Fever vaccine can kill you itself. A stimulated immune system isn't much good to a dead person, and mosquitoes certainly aren't the only opportunity nature offers in stimulating our immune system. I would be happy to see all the disease vector mosquitoes eliminated completely.

Or the possible transference of non-harmful or beneficial bacteria?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com