If you’ve ever felt personally victimised by mosquitos, chances are they find your smell more appealing than others.

A recent study has found that some people are mosquito magnets thanks to a combination of chemicals on their skin that makes them tantalising to these insects.

Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found people who have higher levels of certain acids on their skin are 100 times more attractive to the female Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito responsible for spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika.

The study tested mosquito attraction to human skin odour over several years.

The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Cell, could be a breakthrough in developing new products that could mask or alter these human odours, thereby curbing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

People with higher levels of carboxylic acids on their skin were found to be more attractive to mosquitoes.

While it was known that some people were more attractive to mosquitoes than others, the exact science behind this phenomenon was poorly understood.

Previous studies have suggested that around 20% of the population was more susceptible to getting bitten by insects – and this is actually down to a number of factors like blood type, clothing and even body temperature.

Also, generally, women tend to get more bites than men.

Source: Read Full Article