• Question: Why do mosquito bites itch? xx:)

    Asked by hollynsarah to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by barney.
    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      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.

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I’m not sure. I think it might be so that we scratch it, which will bring more blood to the area and therefore more immune cells to try to destroy any bad things that were in the bite. Not 100% sure though.

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      When a mosquito bites you she injects a little of her own spit (nice!). The spit contains stuff to stop your blood clotting (called anticoagulants) so the mosquito can drink as much blood as possible but it also contains some proteins from the mozzie’s body. We are allergic to those proteins so our bodies have a small but itchy allergic reaction. The more we scratch, the more we spread those proteins into our body and make the itching worse.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      When a mosquito bites you, it injects some of its saliva into you (gross, I know). One of the main reasons for this is that the saliva contains chemicals to stop your blood from clotting, so the mosquito can take up as much blood as it wants.

      The itching is caused by your immune system reacting to proteins in the mosquito’s saliva. Your body releases a chemical called histamine around the area of the bite, which makes it feel itchy.

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