Are Mosquitoes Attracted to Certain Blood Types?
Have you ever noticed that mosquitoes seem to bite some people more than others, even when everyone is in the same place at the same time, with the same amount of exposed skin?
Because mosquitoes can spread diseases like malaria, Zika, and dengue fever, scientists have been investigating the various factors that may make some people more attractive to mosquitoes. One of these factors is blood type.
In this article, we examine the link between mosquito bites and blood type, and also look at other factors that attract mosquitoes.
Are people with one blood type more prone to mosquito bites than others?
People with different blood types have different sets of specific proteins (antigens) on the surface of their red blood cells. You inherit your blood type from your parents. There are four different blood types:
- A: only A antigen on the surface of red blood cells
- B: only B antigen on the surface of red blood cells
- AB: both A and B antigen on the surface of red blood cells
- O: no A or B antigen on the surface of red blood cells
Some people can also have these antigens in body fluids like saliva or tears. These people are called secretors. For example, someone with blood type A would be a type A secretor. Those with blood type O secrete H antigen, a precursor to A and B antigen.
So, what does all of this mean for how attractive you are to mosquitoes?
Generally speaking, mosquitoes appear to be more attracted to people with blood type O than other blood types. Below, we’ll take a deeper dive into the research on this topic.
What the research says
An older study from 1974 recruited 102 participants to look into various individual factors that could attract mosquitoes. When the researchers analyzed the results, they found that mosquitoes preferentially fed on people with blood type O.
Recently, a 2019 study also assessed blood type preference in mosquitoes. They did this by providing samples of different blood types in separate feeders. It was observed that mosquitoes preferred to feed from the type O feeder than the other feeders.
A 2004 studyTrusted Source examined mosquito preference for blood type as well as secretor status. The overall results found that:
- More mosquitoes landed on people with blood type O. However, this result was only statistically significant when compared with blood type A and not to the other blood types.
- Mosquitoes landed on type O secretors significantly more often than type A secretors.
- When blood type antigens were applied to the arms of study participants, mosquitoes were significantly more attracted to people with H (type O) antigen than A antigen. Meanwhile, A antigen was significantly more attractive than B antigen.
Since blood type antigens can be found in the saliva and tears of secretors, it may be possible that mosquitoes can sense these antigens as they approach a person. However, there hasn’t been any research done to support this idea yet.
Also, remember that while the 2004 study found a preference for blood type O over type A, the same can’t be said for the other blood types. Clearly, other individual factors can influence who mosquitoes choose to bite.
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Articles from: Healthline https://www.healthline.com/health/mosquito-blood-type#what-else