NEW ORLEANS — The standing water from afternoon thunderstorms is a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.
When you add that to the upcoming West Nile virus season and just the aggravation of getting bitten, you may be looking for ways to be less attractive to mosquitoes.
Is it true that some people are mosquito magnets?
“People say, ‘Mosquitoes bite me more than they bite anybody else.’ Well that, that could potentially be true,” said Dr. Jim Diaz, Professor in the LSUHSC School of Public Health, Environmental / Occupational Health Sciences.
Let's start with mosquito biology 101. Only females bite you. They need your blood, so their eggs can mature, then be laid in water. There are two main reasons she finds you.
“All of us produce body heat, and all of us produce carbon dioxide in our exhaled breath. So, those are the most important attractors,” he explained.
You can't change those, but what about things you can?
“They're attracted by perspiration. They are attracted by hormonal smells. They're attracted by perfumes, and hair sprays, and deodorants.”
Dr. Diaz says being diabetic, pregnant, and your hormones could make your skin more appetizing. And so could floral scents since mosquitoes eat nectar from flowers.
“They'll make soap in France that contains rose petals, and that's going to be highly attractive,” said Dr. Diaz.
But a new, very small study out of Virginia Tech found that it all depends on how your personal scent interacts with products. For some, it may help them repel mosquitoes, but for others, it may attract them to you. Still, Dr. Diaz says some floral scents are known to repel the biters.
“Native Americans learned a long time ago that if they pick Chrysanthemums, or mums, and rubbed the flowers on their skin, they would keep mosquitoes from biting them.”
We know DEET works to keep the girls from biting, but it is a myth that Skin So Soft does.
“It is really really good for gnats or no-see-ums. It does not work well for mosquitoes at all.”
And by the way, rubbing alcohol on the skin or the smell of alcoholic beverages coming from your skin, well even New Orleans mosquitoes will tend to stay away from those.
Having a fan on you will also make mosquitoes struggle more to get to you.
And putting Benadryl on a bite will help the itching.
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