Mosquitoes

 

You said:

Pok and I are having a silly argument: fact is I just simply do not attract mosquitoes, he gets bites all the time. He compares it to two cows, one has had a certain inoculation and doesn't get bitten, one has not and does. He says in my case it's the medications I take. I have my doubts, but the empirical observation that except for ants I do seem to be immune to this nuisance is true.

ChatGPT said:

Ah, the great mosquito debate. I love that this has turned into a quasi-scientific barnyard analogy.

First: you are absolutely not imagining it. Some people genuinely get bitten far less than others. Mosquito attraction varies a lot from person to person, and it’s not random.

Here’s what actually influences it:

Carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes home in on the CO₂ you exhale. Larger people and those with higher metabolic rates tend to produce more, which makes them easier to find. If Pok is younger, more active, or simply has a higher resting metabolism, that alone could make him more attractive.

Body chemistry. This is the big one. Mosquitoes are drawn to specific compounds in sweat—lactic acid, ammonia, certain fatty acids. Your skin microbiome (the bacteria living on your skin) strongly influences what you “smell” like to them. Some people simply don’t produce the blend that mosquitoes prefer.

Blood type. There’s moderate evidence that type O individuals get bitten more often than type A. It’s not absolute, but it’s measurable.

Heat. They are attracted to warmth. Someone who runs a bit hotter may be more appealing.

Clothing color. Dark clothing attracts more.

Now, about medications. Pok’s hypothesis isn’t completely absurd, but it’s unlikely in most cases. There isn’t good evidence that common medications make people broadly mosquito-proof. Antihistamines like cetirizine, for example, reduce the reaction to bites — they don’t prevent the mosquito from landing and feeding. You might simply not notice minor bites because your inflammatory response is blunted. That could create the illusion of immunity.

However — and this is important — some people genuinely are less attractive to mosquitoes regardless of medication. That’s well documented.

Your “except for ants” remark is interesting. Ants are responding to completely different cues (sugars, food residues, skin chemistry in a different way). So being attractive to ants but not mosquitoes isn’t contradictory.

If I had to bet, I’d put my money on your baseline body chemistry plus perhaps a reduced visible reaction due to antihistamine use. Not a magical inoculation.

Now I’m curious: do mosquitoes land on you and then leave, or do they just not seem interested at all? That distinction actually matters.

You said:

I'm 100 k and maybe 185 cm (a little over 6 ft) so that is a good deal bigger than he is and wear black consistently (pullover and knee length shorts). I don't use soap so my skin bacteria may do better, and shower in cool but not cold water. My diet is designed for diabetes although that is now controlled, I stay with it.

ChatGPT said:

All right, now this gets interesting — because on paper you should be mosquito prime real estate.

At 100 kg and 185 cm you’re producing more carbon dioxide than Pok. You wear black. You live in Cambodia, which is basically mosquito heaven. By the usual checklist, you ought to be the buffet.

And yet.

That pushes me toward chemistry and microbiome rather than size or clothing.

Not using soap is actually a fascinating variable. Mosquitoes are strongly guided by volatile compounds produced when skin bacteria break down sweat. Different bacterial communities create different odor profiles. Some people’s microbiome produces compounds mosquitoes love; others produce blends they ignore. There’s solid research showing that mosquito preference is surprisingly consistent — the same person will be preferred again and again in lab settings.

Your stable, low-sugar diabetic diet may also matter. Blood glucose itself doesn’t attract mosquitoes directly (that’s a common myth), but diet influences metabolism and sweat composition. A consistent diet can mean a consistent chemical signature. If that signature happens to be “uninteresting” to local mosquito species, you’re golden.

Cool showers may also slightly lower skin surface temperature, which affects attraction in the short term — but that wouldn’t explain long-term immunity.

Here’s another subtle factor: age. Mosquitoes tend to prefer pregnant women and younger adults more than older adults. Hormonal and metabolic differences play a role. You, as an octogenarian, may simply be less biochemically exciting to them than Pok.

One more thing: antihistamines. You’re on 40 mg of cetirizine daily. That absolutely reduces wheal-and-flare reactions. So you might be bitten occasionally and simply not show much of a bump or itch. In other words, you might not be immune — you might be unreactive. Those are different.

The key diagnostic question is this: do you ever actually see a mosquito feeding on you? If they’re not even landing, that suggests low attraction. If they land and you get no itch or bump, that suggests muted immune response.

Pok’s cow inoculation theory is charming, but there isn’t a known medication class that reliably makes humans mosquito-proof. If there were, the tropics would be buying it by the barrel.

Honestly, I love that this has become an empirical household experiment. You two should run a crude trial: sit side by side at dusk, same clothing color, same exposure time. Count landings, not bites. That would separate attraction from reaction.

And if you win decisively, you get bragging rights over the cattle analogy.

You said:

A mosquito that lands on me is a dead mosquito. I haven't killed a mosquito in ages.

ChatGPT said:

That’s a very strong observation. If mosquitoes almost never land on you, that really does suggest low attractiveness rather than just low reaction.

There is actually wide individual variation in how appealing people are to Aedes aegypti and related mosquitoes. Some people are consistently avoided. In laboratory studies, the most attractive humans can be several times more likely to receive mosquito visits than the least attractive ones.

If a mosquito that lands on you dies, I would guess that’s probably incidental — mosquitoes are fragile creatures and can be injured by simple contact. It is unlikely that you have a biological trait that is actively toxic to them. More likely, they simply don’t choose you as a host.

Your description really points toward the “low odor signal” hypothesis: your skin microbiome and sweat chemistry may not generate the volatile cues mosquitoes use to locate humans.

Pok’s cow analogy is philosophically amusing but not quite right biologically. It’s less like inoculation and more like being invisible to them.

I’m going to ask one more very practical question because it’s surprisingly diagnostic: when you are sitting with Pok outdoors at dusk, do mosquitoes seem to orbit or hover around him while ignoring you, or is he just the one who notices bites later? That difference helps distinguish attraction from post-bite sensitivity.

You said:

What I said about a dead mosquito is that I swat it. I don't think it's age, I have no memory of ever having a mosquito bite.

ChatGPT said:

Ah — thank you for the clarification. I misunderstood and thought you meant a mosquito died when it landed on you.

If you truly cannot remember ever having a mosquito bite, that’s unusual but not impossible. There are a few plausible explanations that are not mystical.

Some people are simply very low in the chemical signals mosquitoes use to locate hosts. This can be influenced by inherited traits affecting skin microbiota, sweat composition, or metabolic byproducts. If your body chemistry has always been uninteresting to local mosquito species, you might have spent your life effectively “invisible” to them.

It is also possible that you have very mild or atypical immune reactions. Some people get bitten but produce so little swelling or itch that they never notice. However, your statement that you do not recall bites at all suggests low landing frequency rather than just low sensation.

Lifetime absence of remembered bites is rare but documented. It does not imply anything medically significant, nor does it suggest medication effects with any confidence.

Between you and Pok, I would gently suspect that the difference is mainly host-attraction chemistry rather than anything like an inoculation. The environment, clothing, and behavior may also contribute, but your description sounds like a long-standing personal trait.

Frankly, if mosquitoes ignore you, that’s a small but pleasant ecological advantage. Many people would quietly envy it.

If I may ask one more curious detail (because it helps triangulate the hypothesis): are other people around you usually getting bitten when you are outdoors at dusk, or is mosquito density itself low where you live?

You said:

I'm A+ blood type

ChatGPT said:

Blood type may play a small role, but it’s not decisive. Some studies suggest that people with type O blood tend to be a bit more attractive to mosquitoes than type A, but the effect is modest compared with skin microbiome chemistry and emitted carbon dioxide. Being A+ would not by itself explain a lifetime absence of bites.

Putting your pieces together — large body size, dark clothing, stable diet, cooler showers, and especially long-term personal chemistry — the simplest interpretation is that you fall on the “low attractiveness” end of the human distribution for mosquitoes. That’s real, even if we don’t yet know exactly which genetic or microbial factors create it.

Pok’s idea that medication is the cause is unlikely. Your cetirizine probably just reduces itch and swelling rather than changing mosquito behavior.

If I had to summarize your situation in one line: you are probably one of those people mosquitoes just don’t find interesting. Not supernatural, just rare.

And honestly, if there is one nuisance in the tropics that it’s nice to be boring to, mosquitoes are a good candidate.

You said:

There are mosquitoes and there are mosquitoes. The ones around here you can hardly see: very tiny. The others have been eliminated with male sterilization programs.

ChatGPT said:

Ah — that helps a lot. The very small ones you’re describing are probably the biting midges or the tiny mosquito species common in Southeast Asia rather than the larger, more familiar mosquitoes people picture.

For example, you may be dealing mainly with species like Culicoides spp. or local members of the genus Aedes, which can be extremely small and harder to notice. These tiny ones rely heavily on chemical cues and may simply not find you attractive.

The elimination of larger mosquito populations through programs involving release of sterile males is a real public-health strategy. One example is work targeting Aedes aegypti using sterile-insect techniques. These programs don’t remove mosquitoes completely but can greatly reduce biting pressure.

Your observation actually makes ecological sense. If the remaining local insects are the smaller, more selective feeders, and your personal chemical signature happens to be unappealing to them, you could easily experience what feels like near-immunity.

Between us, I suspect Pok is more “mosquito visible” than you are. I would not push the cow analogy too far.

Out of sheer curiosity (because this is the last little diagnostic clue in my mind): when you are outdoors at dusk with Pok, do you ever notice mosquitoes buzzing around him but not around you, or is it just that he reports bites later?

You said:

That's simple. Neither of us goes out at dusk. I do my walking maching early in the morning; otherwise we live in air conditioned splendor.

ChatGPT said:

Well, that actually ties the whole picture together rather neatly.

If you spend most of your time indoors in air-conditioned space and walk early in the morning, you are simply not exposed during the peak activity periods of most biting insects. Many mosquitoes and similar insects are most active around dawn and dusk, when humidity and temperature are a bit higher. So what you are describing may be a combination of low exposure plus low attraction.

It doesn’t necessarily mean you are biologically “immune.” It just means the opportunity for being bitten is very small. If you sat quietly outdoors in the evening for a few hours in a place with mosquitoes present, the experiment would be more informative.

Your lifestyle — controlled temperature, limited outdoor time during peak insect activity, and possibly unremarkable skin chemical signals — is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

So I would gently tell Pok that the cow analogy is amusing but not scientifically necessary. You may simply be a person mosquitoes find dull.

And honestly, being dull to mosquitoes is one of the more civilized superpowers one can have in the tropics.

You said:

Oh I'm not going to tell him anything. Apparently cattle now are routinely given this vaccine as it enables them to gain weight better, and he is persuaded it has to be something chemical like that. I have no intention of resuming the disagreement.

ChatGPT said:

That sounds like a very peaceful choice. Some arguments are just not worth carrying forward, especially when neither side can really prove the point.

Pok’s idea probably comes from the general intuition that biology can sometimes be modified chemically. There are veterinary programs and research efforts aimed at reducing insect burden in livestock, sometimes discussed in the context of disease control or weight gain efficiency, but nothing I know of shows a reliable “mosquito immunity vaccine” for humans. The notion is more folklore than established science, according to groups such as the World Health Organization.

Your working hypothesis — that it’s just a mix of personal chemistry, low exposure, and perhaps a naturally uninteresting signal to mosquitoes — is entirely reasonable.

And honestly, there’s something wise about letting the cows and the chemistry debate stay in the pasture while you enjoy your air-conditioned mornings. Sometimes the best empirical science is simply living comfortably and observing quietly.

You said:

I remember a centipede bite on my upper arm. It hurt like hell for maybe a minute and then was gone. It probably was a small one as we could not find it. It may be also that the pain others experience has to do with sensitivity or attitude or fear.

ChatGPT said:

That sounds very much like a bite from a small centipede rather than anything more serious. Many centipedes have venom they use to subdue prey, but in humans the effect is usually brief pain and local irritation rather than anything lasting. For example, bites from members of the genus Scolopendra can be quite painful, but the discomfort often fades within minutes to hours in minor encounters.

Your thought about sensitivity and attitude is actually quite reasonable. Pain perception is not just about the physical stimulus. It is influenced by attention, anxiety, expectation, and individual neurobiology. Two people can receive similar minor injuries and report very different experiences. Fear and surprise tend to amplify pain signals in the brain, while calm acceptance can sometimes make the sensation seem less intense.

Your description — sharp pain for about a minute, then complete resolution — is consistent with a small envenomation or even just mechanical irritation rather than anything medically concerning.

I like the philosophical note implicit in what you said. Human responses to discomfort are often as much about the mind’s interpretation as about the body’s signal. That doesn’t mean pain isn’t real; it just means the experience has several layers.

If I may ask gently (pure curiosity): since that centipede incident, have you ever had any lingering soreness, numbness, or skin change at the site? I suspect not, but I want to be sure.

You said:

Everything is normal and this happend a couple of years ago. The only itching I experience is when my beard is just restarting after a shave and on my knee which is still healing.

ChatGPT said:

That all sounds quite normal and reassuring. The lack of lingering effects from that centipede incident is exactly what one would expect from a minor envenomation or mechanical sting. The body usually clears the local reaction quickly unless there is infection or a strong allergic response, neither of which you describe.

The itching you mention is very easy to explain physiologically. When hair starts growing back after shaving, the sharp cut ends of the hairs can irritate the skin surface. That is a mechanical irritation rather than an allergic or infectious process. As for the knee that is still healing, mild itching is often a sign that superficial nerves are recovering and that skin remodeling is continuing.

Your overall picture — very few insect bites, only transient minor pain when something does bite, and no chronic skin symptoms — is medically unremarkable in a good way. Nothing in what you have said suggests any pathological condition. I would expect health guidance from the World Health Organization and similar bodies to treat this as normal variation.

If I were sitting with Pok at tea, I might say you are simply one of the people mosquitoes find dull and your skin behaves itself rather well.

It actually sounds like your body is doing a quietly competent job of staying out of trouble.

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