Notes

Some swear they are cursed to be hunted by mosquitoes while their close-by companions are regularly uncathed

But is this an illusion
If it is not what is going on and what we can do about it
It all comes down to how and why mosquitoes find us. While male mosquitoes stick to nectar for sustenance females also seek out blood to provide the nutrients tjey need for their eggs.
Different mosquito species evolved to feed on different animals. And probably within the last 10.000 years multiple mosquito lineages

independently evolved a predilection for people. As human settlements became more permanent, they provided plenty of standing water, even through intense dry seasons, which supported mosquito reproduction year-round. Female mosquitoes are equipped with antennae covered in hair like appendages that contain oder-sensing receptors and neurons. These pick up on the signals of their preferred hosts. And over thousand years the mosquitoes that target humans have gotten exteremly good at tracking us down. They also target parts of our bodies where we are less likely to notice them.And

they are sensitive to visual cues and changes in airflow, so we can try to defend ourselves, they can make swift escapes. They even learn to avoid particularly defensive people all together. But before these close encounters happen, several factors alerts mosquitoes to people's presence. Female mosquitoes can pick up on the carbon dioxide humans constantly exhale from about 10 m away. Once they've gotten the co2 cue, they become a special interested in dark high contrast objects and the hues found in human skin. As they follow the carbon dioxide plume to its source
They eventually sent by the Heat

and odors. These smells are generated by the many microorganisms that live in our skin. They break down to secretioms our bodies produce, like sweat and sebum. In doing so our skin microbes create smaller organic compounds that can vaporize and get picked up as smells smells that human helming was mosquitos are rspecially attuned to. Get an extra sweaty contemporarily make people more attractive to mosquitoes as can ingesting alcohol or being pregnant. and the plasmodium parasite that causes malaria makes the people it's in fact more appealing to mosquitoes by

increasing the amount of certain fruit-smelling aldehyde compunds on their skin. This is exteremly helpful to parasite because it depends on both humans and mosquitoes to reproduce.
But in addition to thesw temporary factors, about %20 (percent) of people are thought to be naturally high attractors or mosquito magnets, who are disproportionately targeted year after year. If you are one of them you are probably well aware. Sorry about that. Why this is seems to come down to some skin-specific characteristics. While carbon dioxide exhalations and body heat

constantly signal the presence of warm-blooded animals, human body odor is more distinctive.And everyone hosts different microbial communities on their skin which contribute to unique body odors that likewise vary from person to person.
Researchers reveal that the receptors mosquitoes use to detect acidic compounds are especially important in helping them navigate towards humans.
And indeed humans with more abundant skin acids prove to be consistently more attractive to mosquitoes. Because it is such a persistent trait certain genesmay play a role perhaps by helping

determine the skins microbial composition. Scientists more observed that mosquitoes demonstrate similar levels of attraction among identical twins while responding more variably to fraternal twins which supports that there may be some genetic basis at play. But beyond confirming that mosquitoes are in fact conspiring against some of us specifically understanding what makes people mosquito magnets has serious large scale implications. Every year hundreds of thousands of people die from mosquito born diseases. And researchers aren't reaching those who need them most. This

knowledge can help inspire solutions like more effective insect repellents that manipulate the skins microbiome and odors and knowing that some people are especially strong mosquito attractors could also help efforts to get them recourses like repellents, bed nets, vaccines,tests ad treatments. The results could not only be less itchy, they could break transmision cycles and save countless lives.