Why do some people seem to be constant targets of mosquitoes while others are hardly bothered? A group of investigators tried to answer this question under unusual conditions for science: a music festival in the Netherlands, marked by heat, crowds, alcohol consumption and little sleeping nights.
According to the portal dedicated to sustainability, Sustentix, between August 18 and 20, 2023, scientists set up a makeshift lab in containers at the Lowlands Festival. The experience, called “Mosquito Magnet Trial” was attended by 465 volunteers, who answered questionnaires about hygiene habits, food and alcohol consumption.
According to the same source, participants later subjected to an uncommon test: to offer the arm so that mosquitoes would choose between landing on the skin or a sugar feeder placed as an alternative.
Write the publication that the results showed a clear pattern. Those who had consumed beer proved to be 35% more attractive to mosquitoes than the abstams.
Adds the site that another risk factor was associated with social life. Volunteers who had shared the tent the night before were more likely to attract insects, suggesting that the intensity of the conviviality may also have influence.
Sunscreen and lack of bath like barriers
The Sustix portal states that some habits considered less valued in the social context seemed to have a protective effect. Not bathing in the morning reduced the attraction by almost half, such as the application of sunscreen.
According to the same source, researchers suggest that both the cream and altered body odor work as barriers that confuse mosquitoes, reducing their ability to detect the target.
Explains the publication that, in addition to behavioral habits, were also analyzed the bacteria present in the skin of the volunteers. The most sought after by mosquitoes had greater abundance of streptococci and other bacteria associated with intense odors.
According to the same source, this microbiological factor helps to understand why some individuals seem inevitably more attractive to insects than others, even in similar conditions.
Unusual but rigorous study
It adds to that, despite all the preparation and registration of video data and laboratory analysis, the festival environment was far from corresponding to a controlled scientific space. The context itself, marked by heat, high music, alcohol consumption and short nights, defined the conditions under which the data were collected.
Still, according to the same source, it is the largest study of the genre conducted in a festival environment and leaves unexpected conclusions. Beer consumption, active social life and the composition of skin flora emerge as determining factors in the attraction of mosquitoes.
Also read:
