Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Children play by a creek in Makati on August 07, 2019 where mosquitoes lay eggs. The Department of Health decared a national dengue epidemic following the rising cases of the disease in parts of the country. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177856668499320190807-dengue-children-creek-GC-5001.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Children play by a creek in Makati on August 07, 2019 where mosquitoes lay eggs. The Department of Health decared a national dengue epidemic following the rising cases of the disease in parts of the country<em>. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>PARIS, France — Ever felt like mosquitoes bite you while ignoring everyone else? Scientists are now making progress in deciphering the complex chemical cocktail that makes particular people more enticing to these disease-spreading bloodsuckers.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not a misconception— mosquitoes are attracted to some people more than others,&quot; Frederic Simard of France&#x27;s Institute of Research for Development told AFP.</p><p>&quot;But we are not all magnets all the time,&quot; the medical entomologist added.</p><p>A range of sensory cues can cause mosquitoes to pick one human over another -- mainly the smell and heat our bodies give off, and the carbon dioxide we exhale.</p><p>Female mosquitoes— which are the only ones that bite— detect these signals with finely-tuned receptors, then choose their target accordingly.</p><p>&quot;We have known for over 100 years that mosquitoes are attracted by the carbon dioxide that we exhale— this is the first signal that triggers their behavior&quot; when they are dozens of meters away, Swedish scientist Rickard Ignell told AFP.</p><p>Within around 10 meters, &quot;mosquitoes will start detecting our odor, and in combination with carbon dioxide,&quot; this attracts them even more, said the senior author of a recent study on the subject.</p><p>As they get closer, body temperature and humidity make particular humans even more enticing.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>BLOOD TYPE DOESN&#x27;T MATTER<br/></strong></div><div><br/></div><p>However some popular theories on this subject do not hold water.</p><p>The idea that mosquitoes prefer particular blood types &quot;has no scientific basis,&quot; Simard said.</p><p>&quot;There have been some studies, but only involving very few people,&quot; he said. &quot;Nor is it related to skin, eye or hair color,&quot; he added.</p><p>Odor, on the other hand, matters greatly.</p><p>&quot;A soup of molecules produced by our microbiota is more— or less— appealing to mosquitoes,&quot; Simard explained.</p><p>Humans release between 300 and 1,000 different odorous compounds, research has shown, but scientists are only just beginning to understand which ones attract mosquitoes.</p><p>For Ignell&#x27;s recent study, the researchers released Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- known for spreading yellow fever and dengue -- on 42 women in a lab, to see which ones they preferred.</p><p>&quot;We have shown that mosquitoes use a blend of odorous compounds (we identified 27 that the mosquitoes will detect, out of the possible 1,000) for their attraction to us,&quot; Ignell said.</p><p>The woman the mosquitoes most liked to bite— which included pregnant women in their second trimester -- produced a large amount of a particular compound made by a breakdown of the skin oil sebum.</p><p>That even a small increase of this compound— called &quot;1-octen-3-ol&quot;, or mushroom alcohol -- made a difference came as a surprise, Ignell emphasized.</p><p>&quot;Mosquitoes are fascinating creatures,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>BEER MAKES YOU ATTRACTIVE<br/></strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Drinking beer has also been linked to attracting mosquitoes, because it raises body temperature, increases the amount of exhaled CO2 and changes skin odor, according to several studies.</p><p>For standardized research conducted in Burkina Faso, some brave volunteers drank beer, then several days later water, to see which mosquitoes preferred.</p><p>The Anopheles mosquito, which can spread malaria, was more enticed by the scent of the beer drinkers.</p><p>For a 2023 study in the Netherlands, 465 volunteers put their arms in cages filled with female Anopheles mosquitoes.</p><p>The volunteers who had drunk beer in the previous 24 hours were 1.35 times more attractive to the mosquitoes.</p><p>Discovering why mosquitoes prefer particular people has becoming a more pressing issue as climate change expands the range where they roam.</p><p>For example, the tiger mosquito, a vector for the chikungunya virus, is spreading into new areas. Last year, chikungunya reached as far north as France&#x27;s Alsace region for the first time.</p><p>&quot;This risk is affecting more and more people,&quot; Simard said.</p><p>So what can you do to avoid getting bitten?</p><p>Try loose-fitting clothing that covers your skin, mosquito nets and repellent, Simard advised.</p><p>&quot;Try to eat light meals— and go easy on the alcohol,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><br/><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-lgg04a1F7o?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/63ulSmtY1W0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4hDeMq_sOyE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

Why are some people mosquito magnets? Clues are emerging

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Why are some people mosquito magnets? Clues are emerging

Isabelle Cortes,

Agence France-Presse

Published May 12, 2026 02:24 PM PHT

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Paris

France

climate

mosquitoes

health

attractiveness

Agence France-Presse

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