Some People Are Mosquito Magnets | Hacker News Reader

Some People Are Mosquito Magnets

scientificamerican.com

67 pointsgmays44 comments

Once at the Exploratorium in San Francisco I saw an exhibit where mosquitos were in a mesh terrarium, such that you could offer your hand to them without being bit. I offered my hand and had few takers. Someone else stepped up to the exhibit and offered their hand, and many mosquitoes flocked to them.

I also read somewhere, Mosquitos prefer type O blood. So I wonder if they correlated the results with blood type. And yes, I am a mosquito magnet with type O. So curious how their results relate.

interesting, I'm 0 and a favoured mosquito target, and my wife is A and does not get bit very much.

We have two kids to which the same dichotomy applies: I now need to check what blood type they have!

Sounds like you already know!

I'm a type 0 magnet myself

Me, too, alas.

Me three. If there’s a single (female) mosquito in town, it unerringly zeros in on me.

I’ve read that mosquitoes are attracted to “high sugar” (i.e. higher amount of polysaccharides) blood types, which O is. The Chinese even have a saying of people who are mosquito magnets: “You have sweet blood!” (I was told this a lot when I lived in China.)

That said, mosquitoes also seem more attracted to fresh meat, i.e. new and different smelling prey. Live in one locale for a while, and predation by mosquitoes seems to diminish. Perhaps it’s an ancient defense mechanism.

From TFA:

Scientists have put forth some theories to explain why mosquitoes swarm to some of us more than others, including one idea that differences in blood type must be to blame. Evidence is weak for this link, however, Vosshall says.

can confirm, 0+ and unhappy recipient of their attention way above most people around me... it can get pretty dangerous in places with malaria, dengue, yellow fever etc.

I'm O+ and I never seem to get bit whereas my B- wife does.

Am O-. Wife gets bitten way more than me and is not O.

I'm B+ and wife is O+, and I'm always the one bitten most

I'm O-positive, and I tend to barely ever get bitten by mosquitos when I'm in a group (but if I'm outside alone sometimes I'll get a bite or two). The only theory that I've ever had was that I sweat an exceptional amount when even feeling slightly warm, and given that mosquitos tend to be out in warmer weather, I've wondered if my odor discourages them if better smelling targets are available

> Carboxylic acids are commonplace organic compounds. Humans produce them in our sebum, which is the oily layer that coats our skin; there, the acids help to keep our skin moisturized and protected, Vosshall says. Humans release carboxylic acids at much higher levels than most animals, De Obaldia adds, though the amount varies from person to person. The new study had too few participants to say what personal characteristics make someone more likely to produce high levels of carboxylic acids

Interesting that people have been using the bath oil, skin so soft, as a mosquito repellent for years. I wonder if people whose skin has already been moisturized would produce less sebum?

I know it's just anecdata, but as far back as I can remember, mosquitos have tended to avoid me or at least to take it easy on me.

I have no idea why, but I didn't exactly have reason to complain.

What blood type are you?

I’m an O and get bit a lot, wife is an A and hardly ever gets itchy bites.

I'm A and I get totally obliterated by mosquitos

A+ here. I tend to attract em less than average (based on nonscientific observation of friends and family over the years).

A+

But how would the mosquito detect that before biting?

They obviously go through your medical docs first!

Again, a reminder that the article says of the link between the blood type and attractiveness to mosquitos: "evidence is weak".

Same. I’ve been incredibly fortunate in that I rarely get mosquito bites - usually just a couple per summer. My mother will get 5-10 or more in an hour in the evening sitting right next to me, while I get none. Same with my wife. It’s crazy.

My mom used to tell me that my blood was sweet and that’s why the mosquitos loved me more

Do the mosquitoes prefer diabetic people?

My mom may not have had the best scientific training…

I’m diabetic and get bit often. I always joke with my family that the mosquitos prefer me because my blood is sugar free.

People can absolutely change their chemistry, body smell, blood acidity etc.. But it is very very difficult; change in diet, water fasting for weeks... Microbes in body have to be replaced and metabolism set into new equilibrium.

Not sure you read the article. It's about Carboxylic acids, not about microbes in the body. Also the article tells that a change in the diet didn't have any noticeable effect on participants, and finally that the level of attractiveness remains the same for the whole life.

I read the article:

》Akbari says the study could help researchers develop more effective mosquito repellents in the future. The secret might be in adding new bacteria to the skin’s existing microbiome to alter its scent profile.

Radical change in eating affects skin bacteria similar way.

I'm interested in this! Do you have some sources/links?

No links,just follow "40 days water fast is a miracle" route

Those aren't scientific tested at all. I'd like something more substantial then the snake oil salesman type of article you can find everywhere on the internet.

I am not a salesman. Just saying diet affects your smell. But wait a few decades, I am sure they will do clinical studies and package it as a pill :) pharma is actually working on this

Don't get me wrong, I think it's possible. But you'd have to be specific to affect significant change. I doubt hobbyist without medical training will be able to hit the sweet spot.

That's why I asked for something with more substance. Most of these types sites are middle aged women who are under heavy influence of the placebo effect.

To me it sounds like they did not track change in diet:

> Any personal factors that may have changed over those months—from what each subject ate to the kind of soap they used—didn’t seem to make a difference.

They know that any dietary changes could not have produced a noticeable effect since there was none, but not whether any dietary changes occurred or which ones.

Also, extrapolating from these several-month intervals to "your whole life" can only be speculation.

It's a common joke where I'm from that if a mosquito bites a whiskey-drinker they'll crash on the flight home.

The problems I see with the study is that they assume anyone's diet or soap type will change much over a few months.

I generally use the same soap/bodywash for years, and my diet changes are usually longer-term. Yet I noticed that, while I was completely uninteresting to mosquitos before, esp with my wife around, we seem to have been equally tasty in the last year.

So with my personal counter-example, I consider their hypothesis that you remain a mosquito magnet or not for life, debunked.

In a moderate setting like north American forest in early summer I get just few bites and my wife gets bitten all over. We thought this is due to temperature difference. My skin feels colder to to touch than average and she is warmer to touch than average. But this explanation seems more plausible.

I am a mosquito magnet and have among the coldest extremetries of any person I've met. So, anecdotally this does not track.

> “This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life—which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are,” Vosshall says.

I'm sorry what? Why is this ever good news? (I'm a mozzy magnet and I hate it)

Sounds like they meant its good news if you're not a mosquito magnet?

If you are NOT a magnet, and it persists throughout your entire life, it’s good news.

haha that thought hadn't even crossed my mind, thanks for the clarification

I am one of them. And until I showed this [0] video, my partner didn’t believe it.

[0] https://youtu.be/38gVZgE39K8

Wow, I think you're so attractive... to mosquitoes.

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