1 Answer

Mosquitoes are a bit like flying syringes. Their large needle nose, called a proboscis, is ideal for quickly landing on a victim, withdrawing a bit of blood and then taking off for the next target. You may not notice a mosquito bite initially, but within an hour or two after a bite, you may have raised red bumps from mosquito bites that itch like crazy.

When a mosquito bites, she leaves behind saliva. In fact, the saliva present in mosquito bites serves the mosquito well, since it works as an anti-coagulant. These means the mosquito can quickly draw blood without catching your attention.

The saliva injected when a mosquito bites causes our bodies to produce a histamine response. We have a slight allergy response, and thus our skin around the bite area gets itchy. This can actually be a good thing, even if it’s an annoying one, because mosquito bites can transfer disease. In the US, risk of West Nile Virus is the main concern. In other countries, mosquito bites may transfer malaria and other quite nasty germs. If our bodies didn’t respond with the itch factor to mosquito bites, we might not realize we’d been bitten. Though knowing you’ve been bitten may not prevent the spread of disease, you can tell your doctor about it if you develop severe flu symptoms a few days or weeks later.

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch.htm

14 years ago. Rating: 1
Comment this answer Add new comment