Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others?

thank you for the article.now i can answer to some dumb people when they say i get bit by mosquitoes because of my body smell.i get so agravated!!!

I just absolutely KNEW that frequency of bites had to do with blood type. I am type O and am ALWAYS getting eaten alive by mosquitos! Many of my friends that are type A NEVER get bitten, even when a mosquito lands on them!

Erm… I’m an O and I never get bitten!!

My blood type is a+ and I am always getting bitten. I think it’s because I am so sweet. LOL

I have a real problem with mosquitoes biting at my bag, is it possible my bag emits an odor that attracts mosquitoes?

LOL this thread is messed. Mosquitoes bite people to live and feed their young, the numbers mean nothing and I would have to go with the chaos theory, in that someone has to be bit more than another and someone has to be bit less, otherwise the world would explode without randomness, or chaos.

Wanna learn something that pertains to everything, check out chaos theory. Stats are pointless.

Interesting, but my family totally blows the blood type theory. I have a daughter who is B+ who absolutely gets eaten alive and one who is A+ with a pretty strong attreaction. The rest of us who are A+ and O+ use the first two as our repellent.

Last year i went on holiday, my brother aged 10 and my son aged 4 shared the same room my brother got bitten loads with repellent on and yet my son didn’t get one bite we used repellent on him the first couple of days, but after that he didn’t have any on as they didn’t seem to like him and he still didn’t get bitten. Im just intriged to know why???

Always knew it must be linked to blood type, not sure on the O type though, Im A- and always get bitten alive while no-one else does!!???

Thank you for this article. now i have an answer to why mosquitoes bite me all the time instead of the other people in the same room as me. it’s only because of my rich thick blood type! and because of bodyly secretions that i give off. and my smell, and a whole lot of other things. thanks!

how about this…when i get bit by mosquitoes, which not only seems to be more than everyone i know, i get bitten in quick clusters. i don’t just get one generic bite here and there. i will get bit in repeated succession in a big cluster of sometimes four or five bites in a small area. no matter where i go, this holds true.

i am type O and i never get bit. i don’t think i’m buying the blood type theory. there are posts here of people all over the blood type spectrum and their experiences are just as widely ranged.

OMGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I GET BITTEN BY mosquito all the time, and i have no idea what my blood type is.

I am type O and get eaten alive even with repellant on. I also have a blood disease called ITP, and I wonder if they like me because my blood does not clot normally.

Interesting…but the photo above the article is not that of a mosquito but a (harmless) crane fly. it would be hard to bite someone, regardless of blood type, without a nice long proboscis (nasty bitey part).

I am blood type B+ and have been attacked by mosquitoes continuously all of my 70 plus years. I have applied many different types of repellants but as of yet have not found one that works well. I have attracted them in the American continent all areas and also in Asia. I am resigned to being bit as there isn’t much I can do about it, hopefully sience will discover the reason and develope a repellant.

This information I just read is right. I have never been bitten by mosquitoes But now i have been drinking a couple of beers in the afternoon and I go out and i get bitten within minutes at least in four different places uncles ,elbows and ,knees .When I drank red wine it never happen

I am AB+ blood type and Im bitten by mosquitos ALL THE TIME! Im just so sick of it!! Even the repellants dont help me! Its terrible.
However, besides the blood type, the article states that the body warmth and alcohoc composition are also factors of attraction! :(
Thank you for the article!

blood type? what about body temperature? I have a normal body temporature of 96.3sih rather then 98.6 and i never seem to get bit. might not this be the major factor? warmer people get bit and cooler people don’t….Possible?

One thing the article mentioned is that not everyone emits the scent of their blood type. Which would explain why some people with a certain blood type get bitten and some don’t – they don’t excrete the scent.

I get bitten constantly. My mom does too. On a recent vacation to a lake house I was outside just as frequently as 2 friends and my husband (who threatened to put me in a bubble!) – we all drank the same amount, wore bug spray, and were even using the same shampoo and soap. I went in every night covered in bites, while everyone else was untouched; including, luckily, my son.

It is obnoxious. We just killed one in the house – it bit me 5 times before we could get it. Grrr…

Body temp is interesting – I have a low body temperature of around 96.7, and I don’t remember bites being much of a problem when I was pregnant.

Thanks for the article!

I live in a hot country and being constantly bitten is getting me down quite a lot.
I now wear repellent every day and carry it with me. When i arrived 3 months ago i ended up scratching so much that the bumps and itching came up all over my arms and legs and stomach. It seemed like an allergic reaction to the bites but the doctor didn’t seem sure what had caused it. She said it was a food allergy or an allergic reaction to the bites. I think it was the latter.
I have A type blood so that blood theory seems a bit off to me. My partner doesn’t get bitten very often, just now and then. Also my daughter gets quite a lot but not my son. Is it the female hormones that maybe attract them more or what?? The biggest annoyance is that i’ve been wearing trousers lately and get bitten on my legs so how the heck are they getting up my legs. I despise mosquitos. Why can’t they become extinct??

I’m type O and used to get bitten a lot. Now that i’m older, i don’t get bitten as much. As it’s stated, 15 percent don’t emit the blood marker. But from what i’ve learnt, mosquitos are attracted to CO2 as well. So people that never get bit either don’t emit much CO2 or a blood marker or are move enough to keep them off.
It states that type O are bitten more, but that could be the marker is more familiar as there’s more O around and is the oldest type.
People that aren’t O but get bitten a lot, it could be you give off more CO2, emitted a higher blood marker or just really unlucky. I think i get bitten less because i weigh a lot more and my diet’s changed.

My wife and myself plus my sister in law and her husband have just returned from playa del carmen in Mexico. My wife and her sister are twins and have the same blood group as myself (A+). I have over 40 bites and my sister in law in excess of 30, my wife had NONE and my BIL 3 which were barely noticeable. In terms of alcohol my BIL drinks more than all of us and is blood group (O).

I can’t comment on carbon dioxide levels but an certainly say neither my wife or SIl are pregnant … in short i’m none teh wiser just very itchy

I live in Thailand and am relatively unaffected by mosquitoes – I notice though that most of my friends who are, take ineffective precautions. They claim all sorts of reasons and then go out in the evening in short sleeved shirts and no socks.
They become obsessed with ridding a room of mosquitoes and then sleep without bedsheets……

odorant marker emmited from the blood type..interesting..i always wondering why my mother’s always gets bitten instead of my father.. my mom always says that she has a sweeter blood than my father cause she’s the only one gets bitten.. but based on temperature it’s kind of opposite cause my father’s body temperature is higher than my mother ..

I am blood type AB+ and prior to having a kidney transplant didn’t have any major issues with mosquitoes. Since the transplant and the immunosuppresion medication i take, I now have a huge problem with being bitten and also how much they itch. The itching becomes almost unbearable and as someone else commented I now get bitten in clusters of about 5 or 6 bites at a time. It would appear that mosquitoes are definitely attracted/deterred by different odors, otherwise repellents wouldn’t work. I know that since the transplant I have had some hormonal changes so I’m guessing their attraction to some and not others could be to do with hormone’s and their affect on our bodies

my experience is different then anyone else!!!
infrared radiation of body is more likely. I don’t know if you noticed but they bite rite on the veins. closer the surface. sounds more logical as well. other reason they fly closer to ear lopes at night. one more observation is they use ear drum as speaker and radar they bounce their wing noise find their way like bats.

anyone to test these?
let me know. email haluk@bosspacific.com.au

I have a+ blood so does my son. I never get bitten, my son gets covered from head to toe in bites and where there are no bites there are scars from last years bites, he is constantly uncomfortable and itchy. I completely disagree with the blood type theory. I agree with the explanation that we are all bitten, but only some of us react negatively. I beleive those that are already predispositioned to things like asthma eczma and allergies are more prone to have an overeactive immune system that may cause these small bites to become irritated.

Over the last two nights my partner and I have been unidated with the pesty Mozzies, my partner who is A blood type has been bited 13 times in the last two nights and I being O+ have no had not one single bite. So that blows the theory about blood group O is bited often than other’s?

So, what are scientists waiting for to find out
what the mysterious secreted scent is that attracts
these nuisance bugs?
This isn’t rocket science!

I think this is all very interesting – because my personal experiences are the opposite to the article. I am 30 and British and now live in South China where mosquitos are rife. I am O- blood type, I drink alcohol, and eat cheese…but I never get bitten (touch wood). My poor Chinese girlfriend on the other hand is A+, doesn’t drink alcohol or eat cheese but gets bitten all the time – to the point she is left with swellings and bruises. More research is required here I think. And yes, you would think this would be straight forward enough for scientists…

oh by the way serena, my girlfriend has no other allergies or asthma etc but still gets bad seriously bad reactions to the bites…

Mmmm…. I don’t think it has anything to do with blood type. I am Asian with AB+ blood type and I get eaten alive!! If I am with a group of 10 people, the mosquitoes will still find me! More research is needed. I usually don’t go out after dawn….

Since I started to take Simvastin tablets 2 years ago to reduce cholestrol I notice that in the aerly part of the year March-may I get bitten regularly and generally have about 3 to 5 bites on the go at any one time.
before I took these tables I rarely got bitten and generally once the damp season is over by June I am okay.
I really don’t know what to do to stop them,even when I tuck my socks into my trousers if I go out into the garden they seem to get up my trousers.

I was biten all over yesterday.
The strange is, when I was in Asia, I was never bitten and now I’m back in Europe, the second day I had like 150 bites.

why is it mosquitoes more attracted to type O blood group people? any scientific evidence please?

Hi I am a 57yr old woman and as for as long as I can remember I have been been bitten by mosq. I am sitting here with numerous bites and I wasn’t outside!! We have a whole house fan and opened the windows(screens) and I got bitten!! I am type 0+ and I also have ITP.
My husband never gets bitten…I found out I am also allergic to mosq. so the itch is unbearable!! I am frustrated to say the least.

I agree with the temperature idea in this article. I have such a low body temperature I hate air conditioners. I can’t remember the last time I was bitten, though people around me seem to be magnets for mosquitoes.

Didn’t really care til I went to the beach with my girlfriend and wanted to sleep under the stars with a comfortor and pillows in the bed of my truck. No bug spray was used because we didn’t think of it.

I got destroyed by mosquitos! I probably got bit 50-75 times and my girlfriend got bit maybe twice. While I was wrapped up like a mummy sweating, she was next to me with her leg out of the covers to cool off. She thought I was crazy til she saw the welps the next day.

we’re both A+

omg I am A+ and I get eaten alive. I just walked out the door just now and got bit six times within less than 10mins. My husband has O+ and he never get’s bit. My legs and arms look like I was stung by a bee instead of a musquito. I hate them so much.

I’m a professional statistician and I feel a need to clear some things up.

There is a probably a correlation between having type O blood type and getting more mosquito bytes, but as I’m sure you’ve all heard, correlation does not equal causation. This is an example of confounding with odorant markers, which are associated with both the outcome (more bites) and the predictor (blood type) and differentially distributed between the levels of predictor. Though having type O blood may not in and of itself be reason for a mosquito to choose one person over another, type O blood *is* more often observed in the “secretors” that mosquitos prefer.

I’d hypothesize that in an experiment where odorant levels are controlled, the relationship between blood type and bite predisposition would vanish. However, you can say that on a population-wide level, knowing a person has type O blood makes them more likely to be a mosquito magnet, inasmuch as it makes them more likely to have the genes for giving off a mosquito-friendly scent.

I am type O+ and was only outside for an hour today and got bitten 13 times. Mosquitoes just love me and it is annoying. Every year I get so many scars from these nasty blood suckers because I itch them so bad. I think it is because my blood type. Everyone I know only get bitten every once and a while and none of them have type O blood like me.

Since becoming a raw food vegan mosquitoes don’t touch me like they did in the past, has there been any studies on the correlation between mosquito biting & blood purity or cleanliness??

ugh,as im reading this both of my feet are swelling b/c i got bit on the toes and around the house too!… does that mean im allergic???

the last few weekends we’ve had outdoor dinners w friends. I’ve been bitten over a dozen times each night. The three others are usually not bitten at all, or may have one or two. Blood type or something else… this has been happening to me for years.

Hi, I get bitten all the time and very badly. Abroad or at home. The only repellent that I have found good is avon skin so fresh – woodland fresh. I have used it in USA, UAE and all over the world. So long as I am wearing it head to toe I am ok!! With out it I have been admitted to hospital as I react very badly!!! I only hope it continues to work for me!!

I think that a mosquitoes only bite you when you are in the shade, if you are in the sun they can not see you beacuse you blend in with the heated suroundings.
I think they see heat, like in the movie preditor, he did not see Arnold as a human but as heat while in a shaded forrest but as soon as Arnold covered himself with the cool wet mud then the preditor could no longer see him.
I don’t know for sure but this is my think on how they pick you out and heat among a cool back drop says food to them.

Well, anyone notice that the insect used for the picture on this article is actually a Mayfly? I get bit a lot! can’t a gene specialist create a strain of Mosquitos that all of the sudden mutate and have no wings after several generations? Seems like beter use of gene studies, ridding the planet of Mosquitos would solve a lot of infectious diseases.

I went to Southern Maryland last summer and I got bitten so bad. I had about 20 bites on each leg and a whole lot of random ones all over my body. I just came back from Cape May, NJ and I am bit up again. Not quite as bad but I have about 7 or so on my legs and ankles, some around my neck and ears and some other random ones. I am not sure of my blood type but I wish I knew why these things bite the hell out of me. My boyfriend was with me at both places, doesn’t even put bug spray on and only gets like 1 or 2 bites total. Here I am scratching like crazy. I don’t understand and I am honestly quite sick of these damn bugs biting me so much. I wish I knew what the reason was. I don’t wear perfume when I’m outside in the spring or summer cuz that makes it worse. I was told to swallow a matchhead before going outdoors in areas I might get bitten.

My husband and I can be sleeping on the same bed or be in the same vecinity as a mosquito and they never bite him: They feast on me! I jokingly tell him its my sweet blood they’re after. I have O+ blood, I’m not sure what my husband has.

All this thing about blood group and CO2 etc is bull crap . Just read the comments and you can tell – these are not common factors among the people who get bitten.
If you have been doing bad things, God sends mosquitos to leech you. Thats right – its a punishment plain and simple.
If not , you are spared – how difficult is that to understand ?
Long story short – do good deeds that will please God, and he will in time direct the mosquitoes to the bad guys.

I am a white make 53 years old, my sister is 1 year younger, since we were small children we have not been bothered by mosquitos, my father was also not bothered by them durnig his life. One intersting note is that all three of us have/had blood type O negetive, while my mother who had A (I think) blood was constantly being eaten up by them, this isn’t just that they don’t bother me much, I mean that they don’t bite me at all, maybe twice in 3 or 4 years.

I really don’t get it…I am an 0- i will be the first person to get bit all the time but my brother in law is an A and he NEVER EVER gets bit..and when he does the 1 mosquito that bit him ends up just flying away after 1 sip! They just keep suckin away on me until I have a bit the size of a half doller coin of course. There really bad can anybody help me with any suggestions..I put on OFF sport for waterproof and sweat proof and that really doesn’t work eather….

I’m a redhead with fair skin. I’m also a bit heavy. Mosquitos ALWAYS target me. As soon as it is dusk – I’m toast! Right now I have about 20 bites from working in the yard. It’s the most I have ever had and it’s sooo itchy!

I am Blood type O+ and I seldom get bit. If I get 5 a summer that is a lot.

im O- and never get bitten. they will land on me and then fly to the next person. i dont even own a can of mosquito spray. i wonder if it has more to do with what foods we eat and how our bodies digest it? you are what you eat right? mabe some blood is less desireable to them.

I’m 30, pregnant and have type A+ blood. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been the only one who ever gets bothered by mosquitos and, even more horribly, no-see-ums. I was pregnant with my daughter in the summer of 2007 and counted over 60 no-see-um bites on my left leg alone–and I also have immune system problems…so these bites were ten times worse than the two my son had and the one my husband had. Ugh, I hate bugs and the itching and scratching and burning feeling they leave me with. I have scars ALL OVER my body from childhood and adulthood from scratching the bites until they bled and then scratching at those because they still itched. :((((( HELP!

Im A+ blood i get bit so much right now i have 57 i counted the most ive had is 88 i use bug spray but it dosent work and this happens every year since i remember im only 15 so hopfully u can find a way 2 stop this

quoting Sasha from July 6, >>I’m the same way they will land on me and kind of sniff around and then fly off, occasionaly one will try to bite and sort of gets stuck, I’ll reach down and wipe her away, never get any kind of bump or mark from it.

I am blood type A, I get eaten alive by mosquitos whereever I go. In the Caribbean I got pretty large watery blisters and intense itching. I will never go back there. I had on repellant, mosquito netting over the bed, tooks loads of the vitamin Thiamine, burned mosquito coils under the bed and on both nightstands and they still bit me. I just got back from Redding, CA and they aren’t nice ones up there either. I’m still itching a week after I was biten 9 times. I got watery blisters from those bites also but only half as bad as Antigua, St. Vincent and Bequia. Eash island seemed to get worse and it was actually making me sick. It wasn’t even mosquito season! I have found that if I can apply Witch Hazel on a cotton ball as soon as I am bitten that it helps a great deal.

By the way, my boyfriend is an “O”. They hardly touched him and if they did he had only minor irritation that didn’t last more than an hour or two. He had no repellant on at any time to try to keep them from me but it did not work at all.

I’m just rereading these things and other than the few crazies it seems that you are all saying that the Positive blood type(both O and A) people are being eaten, as opposed to the Negatives. Can that be the link?

Such sad posts. I’m B+, get eaten alive and in clusters if I spend more than two minutes in my front yard. No one else is affected. Other family members = three O+. Years ago a landscaper told me to take garlic capsules. They work wonderfully. Just started taking them for this season and can’t wait for the effect to kick-in. Scratching now,

Too bad there is no easy explanation. I have O- blood, so that theory is fun to entertain, but for half my life I was not at all bothered by mosquitoes, now I am their favorite food source. I spent the day at Sunrise in Mt Rainier National park yesterday and was covered with bites that, again, swell and welt, my hands and toes were swollen. They bite regardless of what I put on or wear. The allergic reaction I get is a bit frightening, I actually got a cold shiver after one set of bites. I am worried about what is happening, on one camping trip I had so many bites that would not come out of the camper and took antihistamines to counter the hives and chills. This used to never happen, and I usually camp in a tent, and have for years. It is like thing flipped a switch in my and I have become bait. I was not drinking anything but water, my diet (good, healthy) has not changed. I am carrying a bit more weight than I did as a teen or a twenty-something, and after 2 pregnancies I have not the same weight as I once did. There was a difference after having 2 children in how many mosquito bites I got (lots more). But now, I am in the middle of the mosquito’s radar zone.

I am also A- and always get bitten more than any of my o Positive relatives, More study needs to be done!!!!!!!!!!

A positive and I almost NEVER get bitten.

There must be something to this blood type stuff.

I live in the Philipines with my brother. He is blood type O the same as me.
We eat the same food and drink the same types of alcohol.
I have never been bitten in my life but my brother is a target. I believe there is something in my blood which deters the mosquitos. I have watched one land on me and immediately take off probably heading towards my brother!!

question for Elizabeeth, you said that the first half of your life you were never bitten, now you are their favorite food, at what age did this change, and were you pregnate? my sister’s imunity changed with her first pregnancy.

I am blood type A+ and get bitten really bad, the only thing that somewhat helps me is Avons “skin-so-soft” and even that wears off after a while. Ny husband’s type is O- and he rarely gets a bite. These seem two be two ends of the spectrum that mosquitoes either attack or dont. I guess theres no set pattern

Mosquitoes used to bother me tremendously. The bites produced the standard welts, and itched like crazy.

After spending about 15 years as a Conservation Officer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – with LOTS of mosquito bites – I realized that I no longer got any bites. For the rest of my career, I was bite free.

Even now, 12 years after retirement, I have an immunity. They still buzz around me. On occasion, I will feel a very slight stinging sensation, as one starts to bite me. They never complete their meal, but fly off after just starting to bite.

I bet people who get laid more get bit less. Mosquitoes can feel that tension

Hot blooded O+ type scratching the heck out of myself at the moment, looking for a dang cure. Can I deposit my blood at a blood bank and ask for a different currency? I don’t care if the exchange rate kills me, this is insane! I don

if you have the o blood type the only reason wny they come after you is becuse thay cant resist is because it tastes so good to them.

this kind of explains a lot. im leaning more towards the chaos theory though. i believe randomness is essential to order.

I just wondered is it because o type blood can be given to most blood types and is a common to all. I am O possitive and I am alway bitten and even by the irish flys from end of augst, Help needed.

my whole family is type o blood, but for some reason i always get bitten the most and have a minimum of 30 bug bites on me at all times during the summer. they usually center around my ankles and feet, i guess i just happened to be the one who got the most delicious combination of genes in the family…

I have always thought something to do with blood. I am A-, so was my Dad; rest of family +. He and I always bitten, others not. My theory has been that is to with the negative bit rather than whether A, AB, O etc. Not only do I always get bitten, but I am allergic to the bites and always get infection, cellulitis, allergic reaction bordering on anaphalaxis – last time ended up on a drip for 24 hours!

I’m blood type A and get absolutely chewed on; my wife is an O and the little buggers don’t even seem to know she’s around.
I was under the impression the heat signature you put out affects how mosquito’s “see” you.
She’s ALWAYS cold, but I put out a tonne of BTU’s.
The house could be on fire and she’d be putting on a sweater – I’m happy in a -30 blizzard.
But then there’s no mosquito’s around then.

My husband is type O and the mosquitos don’t pay any attention to him. They go straight for me, type A. Could it be the secretor? I should get that checked.

I am blood type O and get bitten like crazy. I just had to speak with someone out in the yard, I was immediately attacked by mosquitoes and ended up cutting our conversation short because of the mosquitoes. The man I was talking with did not get bitten. Now have about 30 bites all over from just 15 minutes outside! I put on repellent in the morning but don’t always remember to reapply it until after I am attacked. I was once told that taking B vitamins would stop them from biting you, but I tried it, and actually I still take B vitamins and still get bitten like crazy. I am interested in the garlic capsules. I already take one garlic capsule a day, if I took more I wonder if it would help? Also would it have to be non-de-odorized garlic?

i kno how yall feel. i have nooo idea what blood type i am but all i kno is that everyday, i HAVE to get bitten by a freakin mosquito. my problem is i walk a lot but, just when i get to my house, i get bit.i wear shorts that go to my knees so how do the dang pests get up to my thighs? heres my solution,not much help but it works……..ish: get skin cream and rub it on you after you get bit, it should help a littli and try to control your itching, the more you itch the more the bite gets bigger and itchier. the only thing we can hope for is that in a few million years, the world will end and mosquitos will be gone (just be sure you have an spf of 1000000 for sunscreen,your gonna need it)

I am A+ and get bitten all of the time. I get quarter to half dollar sized whelps with each one. I have found that putting ice on the bite helps. It reduces the swelling and thus the itching. If you can keep from breaking the skin on the bite it will heal much faster.

AH! I have type O blood and I will be the ONLY person in a group that gets bitten! Everyone thinks I’m whiny because they don’t seem to be getting bites. Mosquitos and fleas have ruined the appearance of my legs forever. I hate the smell of deet. I wish there was another way! Thanks for the info.

If mosquitos are attracted to CO2 or people who exhale more CO2, and if “thinking” cause the brain to use up more 02 and give out more CO2, then “thinking” may be the key to mosquito bites?

this is alot lol (:

im heela bored ):

I never get bit, but i always have a good laugh at everyone else that does. I can be camping, at a bbq, ballgame, it doesn’t matter, I just don’t get bit. My wife gets eaten alive, even when she uses repellent. I don’t use repellent, cuz I DON’T GET BIT. For all you bite sufferers, let me just tell you how nice it is to never have to worry about mosquitos. sorry, but I just love to rub it in.

Ugh seriously, I am type O and every time I step outside my arms get all their blood sucked out! I don’t know anyone who gets worse bites than me. It’s funny though because I’m so good at ignoring it that it doesn’t even bother me, and if it does get the occasional agitation, it feels good scratching them!!

The funniest part of the whole article is the photo. The pictured insect is not a mosquito (Culicidae) but a crane fly (Tipulidae), and these do not bite at all.

I am an O Blood type, I drink beer and never try to kill them…so Im pretty well the prime candidate. I sat outside one night after work with a beer in 20 minute I got 26 bites on my back, the other two outside didnt get bitten at all.

I’m AB-, usually have a 97.2 body temperature. My 8 siblings have the same blood and temp. None of us ever got bitten by mosquitos, despite living in mosquito laden Michigan woodland area. Our parents are bitten at a normal rate. ALL of the 24 grandchildren of various blood types are bitten at a high rate, several requiring medical care after campouts, etc.

Until I went to nutritionist and my diet changed from almost exclusively meat, milk, and junk food to one containing whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Since my diet change in 2006 I have been bitten several times each year, and this summer (2009) I was bitten 7 times, and the sites got itchy and red. That never happened before.

Hormones? Age? Inheretted immunity, then acquired intolerance?

I blame the vegetables.

I’m 13. I’m type AB and I had gotten bitten all over my arms and legs when i was smaller so much, that i went to the doctor once{around 10 or 11 years old} . it was itching horribly. my mother even went as far as repeatedly changing my bed sheets because this happened over night. She bought a spray and sprayed me with it. It was to repel against the mosquito. I still experience getting bitten a lot. It’s quite annoying.

I never get just one bite. Usually more that 5-7 and then they come back for more and bite up to 11 times. these are the “normal” times i get bitten. Like I stated above, I went as far as seeing a doctor because my arms and legs we full of bites. If I showed someone, they would freak out. I’m honestly fed up. I’m writing this now because I’m experiencing the itching on my legs and hands as I type this.

The picture given is not that of a mosquito! It’s a crane fly (Tipulidae)

I am a researcher working in an unrelated area; however,the above discussion seemed very interesting to me. I am just wondering if anyone has looked at the concentration of the specific protein types in the blood that mosquitoes are looking for and the number of bites. Thanks for the article and everyone’s comments.

thank you for a wonderful article. now my colleague and I are aware about mosquito bite in general

thank you for a wonderful article. now my colleague and I are aware about mosquito bite in general. that what an awesome information that could help my topic.

Interesting post, I’m an ‘O’ and I rarely ever get bit. Never thought about it much before though.

for years and years every time i go camping im the ONLY one who gets eaten by thos damn bugs .When i was 10 are atv got stuck 10k away from help and we had to walk all the way there . my back was covered in bits and the sad part is they had to bite thru jacket

I’m B+ 56-year-old female and hardly ever get bitten, although I used to when I was younger. I live in climate where mosquitoes are prevalent except in winter.

There seems to be very little pattern with blood type on the above posts….many of you do not note whether you are rhesus negative or not? Maybe this makes some difference too? I also think it is dependant on the type of mosquito…has to be! I rarely get bitten in Europe but on a recent trip to Egypt I got eaten alive – over 100 bites over two evenings (in clusters) and my four friends had around ten bites between them all!!! I am B- blood type. Wish they could eliminate the world of these little pests!

Just another random thought about body temp…… apparently the colder we are in body temp the less we get bitten….the colder I am the more I wear…hence less skin exposed to these nasty little blood suckers…hence less bites? No? People who have raised body temps would be inclined to wear less. Not a scientific fact… more like common sense :)

I am O- and mosquitos could not be less interested in me. I am grateful to not have to wear bug spray all the time. I do know I have very good oxygen uptake. This may help. It would be nice to know why I’m so lucky, maybe diet or vitamins? I keep up on my vitamin Bs…. I have been to the Yucatan, Bahamas, Virginia and the Mid-west in the summer, and all up and down the West Coast. It is so rare that I get bit in any of these places. I did get bit as a child though.

I thought as Marion post 76 that it may be to do with the Rh factor rather that the blood type. I am A- and never get bitten. She is A- and attracts mosquitos, so that theory is out the window.

It seems blood type and Rh doesn’t matter.

There is a wide range of reactions such as multiple bites, cluster bites (that would be me); very large welts indicative of a stronger reaction to the mosquito “saliva” (me again) vs. those who get garden variety itchy bites; and those who even are bitten through clothing (me again).

I live in Maryland about a mile from the bay and have already fed more than a few mosquitos on just one 30-minute power walk at 6 pm yesterday (so movement doesn’t deter them from biting) after an unusually cold winter and snowy/wet couple of months with lots of snow melt and standing water.

Garlic may interfere with the host scent as some have expressed.

And some of us experience something midlife that changes are bite frequency too.

Replentents work, and sometimes not. hmmmmm…. I wonder if it might be the strain or species of mosquito that is the key. Could it be that some strains of mosquitoes indigenous to an area go after some people, but not others? And that repellents are ineffective against some strains, but not others?

Aveeno baths, hydrocortison creams, ice packs, and benadryl make up my drug store list from March through late October for me every year….

I don’t know what blood type i am because i don’t like needles, i get bits around my leg area more than anywhere else does this mean anything? thank you!

I do not know my blood type but i know that my mum is O- and my dad is O positive and they dont get bitten at all!
No mosquito creams work for me and i can’t take tablets so i don’t know what to do about these annoying lumps!
All the comments are defing all the articles i’ve seen and I just wish there was a logical explanation!

Please help.

my honey is o neg, he never gets bit…. I and my 4 children all are o pos..we get eaten alive…you do the math…we are delicious

I am Rabindra Chauhan from India, my Blood group is AB+ and I am always sucked by mosquitos, to be frank I was in the search such article or research so that I can know the real problem. No other of friends are really get mosquito bites as me. Please publish some exclusive report on AB+ group…Thank You

okey let me use some common sense here.. I’m in the army and we are deployed to Iraq and I been bitten a lot by mosquitos here they are big and they are a lot so I know about mosquitos trust me when I say… I’m pretty sure that hydration has a lot to do with this mosquitos’s radar.. meaning they find you easier and more exquisite you more than other people in the same room… If you analize this and compare the information that has been researched by the scientists so far and common sense we can make up a reasonable explanation since they are inconclusive on the reason why some people get bitten by mosquitos more that others.. here in Iraq I have been drinking so much water than I can remember so I sweat more than when I was in the states !!! and when you are hydrated you sweat more than when you are not…heat has nothing to do with moskitoes finding you they don’t have heat sensitive goggles. Its you! is the water in your body evaporating. been hotter makes you sweat or evaporate your body water and with the water goes all that the researchers say too.. CHEMICAL MARKERS goes faster when you are hydrated and hot than a person with less body water and cooler than you.. if you are the only food in the room that ca detected, guess what? you gonna be eatten!!! does that make sense to you? okey…if that doesn’t I’ll give you this other escenario on how you can be conspicuous by mosquitos… put your sweat pants and sweter and go running at night, make sure you are well hydrated and the temperature outside is not hot. the colder the better and stop in front of a car with the head lights on… you gonna see your skin like a wet and hot towel taken out of a microwave. If you have another person do this so you can see it from a couple of feet will work better, have that person stand between you and the car with the headlights on. this is what moskitoes smell!! I don’t think is your cologne or perfume, axe body spray or victoria secret body spray neither

If any body at a university wants to really use this theory and do the actual research and then get back at me with results but I really think this is the best explanation for the dilemma. Yunior_754@hotmail

do not send any coments about my spelling I know it sucks… and i know how to spell mosquito I just like to write it like that moskitoes so yeahh the water in you and your blood type it is… if you are type O and don’t get bit by those try when your body is fully hydrated and you have eatten something delicious for them then get back to me on the result.

I do not believe that blood type has ANYTHING to do with getting bitten. I am A+ and get bitten all the time in the summer. Once, during a family reunion, I stepped outside (after applying mosquito repellent) to join the rest of my family (none of whom had a drop of repellent on them) who had been outside for hours and had to go back inside within the first 2 or 3 minutes because of the 6 mosquito bites I had! And later when they all came back inside, still none of them had any bites! My mom always jokes that when I’m around, she never needs any sort repellent.

Blood type O,husband A,live next door to grandchildren type A. Always tought blood types might have a correlation to bites but it is confusing to say the least. I believe maybe like the guy that worked for the conservation district and had built up an immunity? They land on me big time while I’m out spraying them but the bites don’t swell up. My grandkids get bit up so bad ( they’re little,soft skin and no immunity yet? A child of mine when he was about a year old was bit up while he was asleep and he looked horrible. Now hes 18 and is out working in the fields doing farm work and they don’t really bother him as much. I’d like to find out more research on people in mosquito infested countries and yes, why can’t this be pinned down more. Theres alot of mosquitos and alot of people. Wheres the real answers?

My husband, blood type A+ body temp runs hot, you can warm cold hands just by holding them near him. He NEVER gets bitten.
I am type A- average body temp 97.2. I manage to attract every mosquito in a 5 mile radius and each one of them thinks its Thanksgiving and I am the full feast from turkey to pumpkin pie. I get fewer bites when I use repellant, but still more than others around me.
Neither of us use alcohol at all nor are either of us pregnant. So, either there are holes in this theory or we are the exceptions that make it a rule.

I’m B- and mosquitos attack me every chance they get… my husband, sitting right beside me is never bitten! I’ve always wondered why they liked me soooooooo much! My bites swell up about 4 inches across and sometimes leave a brown bruise-ish looking mark before disapearing.

I dont know my blood type but like everytime I come and visit my family in mexico around the summer time, I get bitten like 6, sometimes even more like when I woke up today I had a total about 10 bite marks around my legs and arms and I think I have like two more and everyone else doesnt get bite marks but me. Also do you think its true that washing your body with water and sand from the beach makes them non-ichi and helps get rid of the bug bites?

This article is wrong. I’m o+, and when I’m drunk not one bite, while all my friends are eaten alive. But when I’m sober its like the 6 doller buffet outside of a curves.

I think that the temperature theory might be right. When I was younger I used to have the same body temperature as most people (99,5 F). I constantly got bitten almost every day and to make matters worse I was allergic to mosquitoes. I could count to over 30-40 bites most days and they were all very big, red and itchy.
A few years ago, though, I got hypothyreosis and since then my body temperature is a bit on the low side (96,8 F) and I still get bitten but not nearly as much. Only two bites this year and it seems like I’m not as allergic to mosquitoes as I was before, either.
I don’t think it matters, but my blood type is AB-.

Thanks so much for posting this artcicle. I probably have been bitten by 40, 000 mosquitoes by the end of the summer. It’s insane and at the moment I do not know my blood type but I would like to find out to see if that’s the reason. My friend’s mom told me that Mosquitoes are attracted to “healthier blood” and it makes sense but didn’t know how. SO I researched to see if there were any prooven factors as to why this ALWAYS happens to me. SO the CO2 levels seem like a definetly accurate idea, being the more active the more co2 and in the summer’s that’s me esspecially. SO thanks again for your article.

So interesting! I’m O negative and mosquitoes don’t bother me but eat my spouse alive if they’re around; but one child is O negative also and seems to get bitten as much as most people. I’ve always assumed mosquitoes like them because they both are much warmer than I am– I tend to be so cold (low blood pressure) while they are both like furnaces.

Buy a small bottle of citronella. dab a little on shoe or sandle near ankles and perhaps on something like hairband, ribben or something. It has realy made a difference to not getting bitten so much. I always carry a little bottle around to add to tea lights and the smell is not bad either. Clarityn tablets help with reaction

OK, after reading all this I have it figured out.

Blood type is not as important as the HEAT you give off.

I used to never get bit with 0 negative blood, but I never used to sweat that much either, very rarely…that is until MENOPAUSE.

My husband does not have O, but he sweats, or used to, rolling down his head after 10 minutes out side….and I could not take him anywhere in the heat without him getting eaten alive.

Now the tables are turned, its me they prefer, because I am hot all the time and sweat easily.

I am interested in the ethnicity of the people who get bites and who do not get a single bite along with your bloody type and weight, height, and gender.

I am type O neg and very, very rarely get bitten. My parter (who does not know her blood type) is constantly getting bitten. So much for the O factor. We could be standing side by side and they just love attacking her.

I am rhesus negative blood type and have never been bitten in my life even though I’ve lived all over Africa – the mosquitoes just avoid me.

I have read almost all these comments and have to agree with the amount of heat a body puts off and as I am sure there are other triggers to mosquitos. I usually have 80+ on each leg (from calf to toe) I can wear heavy canvas pants, socks and shoes (they won’t bite through the shoes)they will bite through everything I wear… I have them in my hair, face, in between my fingers and toes, and even on my bumm. I joke that I am meth for mosquitos. I have used every type of spray, cream, oil and lotion …. I have taken B vitamins and garlic…..with no relief at all. I have even used the bug spray that we use on the horses and cows…. it helps alittle but they will bite me through that as well. (Please don’t do it… it is toxic!) The only thing that brings relief from the bites is salt water and sunshine. To those who live near the sea Praise God! go take a dip and soak up some sunshine. To those of us land locked break out the mineral salts and run a bath. I make it a very strong solution and if they are really bad will rub the salt directly on the legs and arms and let it sit for a few minutes. Yeah it burns like heck…but it does seem to relieve some of the irritation. I then rub a combination of Hydrocortizone (strongest you can find… ask Dr.) and Triple Antibiotic Ointment. This does heal the welts and broken skin faster. If someone is keeping an eye on the stats of these posts… I am O-, fair skinned, and have a warmer than average body temp, I also tend to sweat easy. We live near a river and have swarms of mosquitos. I will be checking back to see if anone has more suggestions ……

I am o+ and have never been bitten, my grandfather had malaria from the 2nd world war and my doctor at the time after taking anti malaria tablets said that i could have some kind of antiboby

Had to post this as i worked out in san tome in 2000 and me and my mate sat outside a bar and he watched the little bastards land on my legs for a few moments and just fly away, do a lap of the bar, land on him and start sucking!!!!

Interestingly it seems that people who get bitten have chosen mates (partners) who do not?? Maybe there are pheromones that we select for, even in this case! I by the way, do not get bitten- they hover over me- rarely land (The only type of mosquito to feast on me was in japan it has White striped legs) growing up I was bitten and had terrible swollen painful bites. My husband, for the record, gets eaten alive by everything!!

this is quite interesting, even for me who does not know wht her blood type really is ((supposedly an o))… I get bitten every summer, and sometimes it just itches and the other it doesnt at a certain time of day in the summer… be it the afternoon to 3pm, when its really hot, the fan is on, drinking something super cold like the usual ((even in winter too… i just dont know y i dislike drinking something hot or warm…)) THIS IS JUST WHERE IT STARTS… when my skin becomes sweaty and hot, they come eating me alive… when my skin gets goosebumps or dehydrated or cold ((yes, in the coldest room available where they shouldnt reach at all)) i dont feel like they bit me at all and most often it doesnt itch at all at first….. O.o
And it also sucks to be the target… -_-;; I live in a family of 6 ((me, older brother, parents and grandparents))… everytime theres a mosquito in the house, they come looking for me instead of the others… my parents get bitten seldom… the others none “just cuz theyre mostly around cigarettes”!?!? You see, i hear tht bugs including these dislike smoke and tends to get away… btw, i never saw my bro get bitten, but if he sees one he wouldve smacked it dead ((in all possible corners and places, except cobwebs))…
Just to say wht i think, i think tht ppl who are o- and o+ are like just opposite preferences for a bloodsucking mosquitio… even if u are an o and u dont kno whether ur + or -, might as well think how mosquitoes get to ur place first and then onto u… for me, w/o a doubt its the front and back door thts open at a certain time for a certain amount of time……… UGH….
Anyways, thank you for posting something interesting, peeps~ =D

For most of my life I was bitten occasionally but not a lot, despite having an outside job in the woods. My body temperature ran about a degree below average normal (97.6 instead o 98.6). A couple of years ago, I learned that I had hypothyroidism, one or the symptoms of which is low body temperature. I am now taking 95mg per day of porcine thyroid extract. This summer I have been bitten dozens of times in a single day. I also have received most of my bites where the skin is thinnest (forearms, side of neck, etc.). Maybe body temperature really is one of the things that attract biting insects. I think I’ll start eating garlic and see if that helps.

My wife, daughter and myself (Californians) went vacation to Bremerton,WA a week ago and noticed that 3 of us got bitten but not the people we visited. Perhaps, these bugs like new blood? It is like new dishes on the dining table haha.

Jme, August 24, 2010 7:24am

Hey there Gang, I’m O negative, I’m always’s HOT like a furnace, don’t like the heat or sun. I know my skin temperature is warmer than other’s. Cause they where jacket’s, and I’m still in my T-shirt. But i don’t sweat as much as other people, when other people do. I am Caucasian but i hardly ever drink at all, maybe twice a month. Ok(Listen)i get bit up so dang much, every little insect. Mosquito, Fly, Flea, Spider, Asian beetle, Leech, Centipede, Chigger’s, Louse, Scabies, Crab’s, Wood tick, Etc. I can come in from one night at a camp fire, with my body doused in bug spray! My friend’s might have 2 bite’s. I will keep getting outbreak’s for 5 day’s!!!! 30 bite’s on my leg’s, neck, and arm’s, mostly by the elbow’s! So i just don’t go outside no more at dusk. (8:00-10:30) One weird occasion~ my Son and i living together, Same blood line! Had an outbreak of cat flea’s, had to bomb the house. I got bit over 100 time’s. How many for him, a couple? So some thing’s that might be different from what people are saying here? I Love to eat a lot, Mushroom’s, Onion’s, Bread, Milk. But only my gut is obese, my arm’s and Leg’s are normal where they like to bite. Have sweet underarm deodorant, sit still (relax), and i can feel every tiny thing on my skin. But hey one thing i know for a fact. I was cooking hamburgers in a cabin, out in the deep wood’s. The smoke was only going out one window. The screen was loaded with over 600 Mosquito’s, but absolutely zero on all 3 other window screen’s. They can smell the blood from the burger!!!!!!!! So may~bey they bite me so much more, cause my blood is closer to the outer layer of skin? And if they can smell my food closer to the surface also? I have also tried Garlic.