Why do mosquitoes bite itch?
The reason behind why mosquito bites itch is that it takes away some blood from the body as well as leaves her saliva in the body. It is this saliva which enters the body and causes itching. Saliva of female mosquito prevents the blood to clot because it has the blood thinner or we can say anticoagulants, with this she also leaves a part of her proteins which cannot be avoided to enter along with the saliva. Type of chemicals called HISTAMINE attach with these outside proteins which further causes itching on the body part where the mosquito has bitten because the cells of that part get affected.
Itching remains till our body immunity does not throw these proteins out. We might have noticed that mosquito bite affects more in the kids than to the adults. This is because we become immune to the saliva as we grow older. Our body becomes habitual to these small doses of saliva. That is why adults sometimes do not notice about the mosquito bites. They notice only when a red bump is appeared on their skin.
If a person is not bitten by a mosquito for a long time then he loses this immunity for itching and feels itchy again whenever a mosquito bite.
It is better not to scratch the inflamed or bitten area because that damages the affected cells and mosquito saliva can affect the other nearby cells.
Here one thing is necessary to mention that only female mosquito bites cause itching .
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Itch sensitivity and protection against malaria
It has been proposed in a few studies that itch response to mosquito bite may be a protective mechanism against malaria or Ross River viral disease. The itch response is basically an immune response of the human body against foreign proteins injected into the blood with mosquito bite. Kumar reported (1) that people who display severe itch/scratching response following mosquito bites are reported to have significantly less incidence of malaria compared to those who are unaware of the mosquito bite and do not elicit an itch response. on similar lines, Dugdale reported less incidence of Ross River viral disease among people who show severe itch response to mosquito compared to those who do not elicit itch sensitivity. Histamine and mast cells are believed to be the prime mediators in eliciting an immune response and eradicating the bug in people complaining of high itch sensitivity revealed by redness and itching/scratching. On the other hand people who lack itch sensitivity are more prone who suffer from the disease owing to deficient immune response against foreign proteins.
Rferences:
1.Kumar A. Itching and immunity [letter]. Lancet 1996; 348: 1383
2. Dugdale A E. Itching bites may limit Ross River virus infection. MJA 2002 177 (7): 399-400