Have mosquitoes morphed into something different than when I was a kid?

[LauraGB]

When I was little, I used to get bitten by mosquitoes all the time. It was no big deal - it itched, I used my fingernail to make a little X mark and moved on. The bites never got big, and they always went away within a day or two if I didn't scratch them.

 

Fast forward to my kids (and a lot of other kids I know). They get big, white puffy hive-like welts the size of quarters or half-dollars and they itch like crazy. And my kids don't react like some of the other poor children I've seen - goodness!

 

Last night I was letting the dog in. It just stormed the past few days and all manner of bugs were flying around the light on the porch, and of course, some flew in when I opened the door. Well, anyway, I felt something on my neck, and swiped and heard the distinct humm of a mosquito buzz off. Then I started to itch. That thing bit me 5 times! Five! Twice on the face, once on my neck and twice near my collar bone. They puffed up whitish, with lots of red around it, and itched - holy cow! So this morning, the ones on my face still itch, and I still have the two welts! (And I have places to go, things to do today! I'm not sure how to cover those up and keep them that way :tongue_smilie:)

 

I mean, are the mosquitoes different than they used to be? I don't think they are the same breed as the ones I grew up with. I also don't know much about them - do they have different breeds? What's the deal with reacting so much (and I know my experience is hardly a "reaction", but so many others suffer so badly!) to a bite? Does anyone know?

[Mejane]

I think they've become bionic from all the pesticides. They're bigger, more aggressive, and their bite hurts like h*ll!

[kewb]

I can only tell you that my two react differently to mosquito bites. My ds gets normal looking bites. My dd's bites start out looking normal but the next day they are gigantic but they don't itch any more then a regular bite.

[anissa]

Ha ha. I understand your angst. Those little buggers think I am a buffet.

[LauraGB]

I think they've become bionic from all the pesticides. They're bigger, more aggressive, and their bite hurts like h*ll!

 

That's probably it.

 

For such small things, they sure are beastly and out in abundance these days.

[Murphy101]

That's how my 3rd born reacts. It's horrible.

 

I don't know why.

[hsmom]

We have been hit hard with them this year and they seem to be worse than usual. The bites are huge and itch like crazy. I got bit on my forehead two times three days ago and they are still there. One is in the middle of my forehead! I look like I have a mountain on my forehead!

 

We are forever putting on bug spray, which cannot be good right? So, I found these bands/bracelets you put on your wrist or ankle and they keep the bugs away for like 200 hours or something. Well I am trying it out today. Usually when I water in the mornings I get ate up, well nothing today. Now the down side is I smell citronella! Which is better than being bit, IMO.

[SquirrellyMama]

When I was little, I used to get bitten by mosquitoes all the time. It was no big deal - it itched, I used my fingernail to make a little X mark and moved on. The bites never got big, and they always went away within a day or two if I didn't scratch them.

 

I still make an X mark in my mosquito bites. Funny, I didn't realize that other people did that too.

 

My bites have always become big. I had a huge one on my forehead when I was a kid. My parents thought I had gotten hit with a baseball bat.

 

Kelly

[sparrow]

That's really an interesting question. My kids react horribly to mosquito bites. They get the huge welts. I had attributed it to them being of Korean descent, because I know other Korean born kids who have the same reaction. Now I'm thinking the mosquitoes may be mutating!

 

The bites DO seem to hurt more. I remember being a kid and not even realizing I had 3 dozen bites until I got indoors and they started itching. NOW, I feel it when they're doing the deed.

 

Hmmmm:glare:.

[glennis_b]

We live in rice country and when that rice water gets just right in this humid climate, the mosquitos hatch and go beezzzerk!!!! We are eaten alive around here. My dd spent the day with a friend and I called last night to see if she could sleep over cause I thought, If she comes in after dark, we will be fighting mosquitos all night long! Yes, they ARE bigger and badder and I think the pesticides have caused them to mutate!

[Murphy101]

My dh wants to do to our kids what his grandpa always did with him:

 

staple cattle tags to their back jeans pocket or the tongue of their sneakers.

 

I'm getting pretty close to letting him too!

[Jennifer in MI]

I wonder if part of the problem is the declining bat population.

 

I have two children who react VERY badly to mosquito bites. My little dd.'s turn black and blue and swell like crazy. Once, her eye swelled shut! Just last week, she had a bite on her forehead. Half her forehead and part of her eye were all swollen. People were asking how she hurt her head! Poor kid.

[Scuff]

I think it's the person, not the mosquitos. My DD reacts like that, but none of the rest of us do. Tea tree oil is your freind. Takes the swelling down to normal and takes some of the itch away.

[i.love.lucy]

I've heard it has something to do with your potassium levels. Don't know if that's true. They are more attracted to people with higher potassium levels.

 

My son is like a magnet for them and he will get huge welts that will itch him for days. I hate to douse him in bug spray but I have yet to find a better remedy.:glare:

[dangermom]

That's really an interesting question. My kids react horribly to mosquito bites. They get the huge welts. I had attributed it to them being of Korean descent, because I know other Korean born kids who have the same reaction. Now I'm thinking the mosquitoes may be mutating!

/QUOTE]

A little boy we know who is of Korean descent has the same problem. I should ask my SIL, she's never said anything.

 

My kids aren't bothered by mosquitos, but I have become allergic to them in adulthood. They swell and blister like you wouldn't believe. It doesn't seem to happen to anyone else though.

[KidsHappen]

I have always had these kinds of reactions to both mosquitos and flea bites. Some of my children do too while others do not. It seems that the people who do have the reactions are also more likely to be bitten.

[Susan in TX]

Sounds like you could have Tiger Mosquitoes:

 

"It's smaller than most mosquitoes, but its bite causes more irritation than most, and it dines throughout the day, not just at night. It's especially aggressive during its feeding frenzy. And if it lands on you, the bug is so fast it's probably going to inflict its damage and get away before you have a chance to swat it."

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0730_wiretigermoz.html

 

The article says they are smaller, but the ones we have are really big.

 

Susan in TX

[Mrs.W]

When I was a child I reacted horribly to mosquito bites. I still have scars all over my legs. But as an adult I rarely get bit. My husband will be swatting them off like crazy, but they don't come near me. I always wondered if you could build up immunity.

[Matryoshka]

I have always had these kinds of reactions to both mosquitos and flea bites. Some of my children do too while others do not. It seems that the people who do have the reactions are also more likely to be bitten.

 

:iagree: When I was a kid we grew up across from a swamp. I had lots of mosquito bites, swelled up a bit but nothing much. But since I've been an adult, if I get bitten at all, it goes away almost immediately. I kind figured I'd developed an immunity from being bitten so much as a kid.

 

My youngest used to have huge bites when she was little (and did have her eye swell shut once), but now they're more like the bites I had as a kid - swollen and itchy, but not humongous.

 

And my house now is also next to a swamp... :001_rolleyes:

[Matryoshka]

When I was a child I reacted horribly to mosquito bites. I still have scars all over my legs. But as an adult I rarely get bit. My husband will be swatting them off like crazy, but they don't come near me. I always wondered if you could build up immunity.

 

heh... I posted at the same time you did! Maybe we're on to something! :D

[Pippen]

One of the theories that I recently heard is that children these days are exposed to fewer "bugs" in our safer food supply so it's amped up the immune reactions to things that weren't such prevalent allergies in the past (ie peanuts).

[mcconnellboys]

We now have this reaction to them, too. The only thing I've found that takes away the itch immediately and removes the swelling quickly is a product called "Sting Kill". It comes in little glass vials inside plastic. You break the vial and squeeze the liquid down into a swab at the end. These also work well for all types of stings (bee, wasp, etc.)

 

Be careful if you try these. If you squeeze the plastic too tightly, the glass can occasionally poke through and stick you. I believe they may have another convenyance mode for these now, such as a premedicated swab. But I don't know if it contains as much medicine.

 

We ask for these from our pharmacist and they order them for us. Most places don't keep them in stock any more. We've been using them for years.....

[justamouse]

Yup. I remember them being no great thing. My kids get one bite and they have swollen limbs. If my middle son gets a bite on the face? Ugh. The whole side of his face swells for days.

[Heather in AL]

Sounds like you could have Tiger Mosquitoes:

 

"It's smaller than most mosquitoes, but its bite causes more irritation than most, and it dines throughout the day, not just at night. It's especially aggressive during its feeding frenzy. And if it lands on you, the bug is so fast it's probably going to inflict its damage and get away before you have a chance to swat it."

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0730_wiretigermoz.html

 

The article says they are smaller, but the ones we have are really big.

 

Susan in TX

 

:iagree: I researched two years ago to find out what the striped mosquitoes were that were devouring me (I am a favorite for mosquitoes at the human lunch buffet). I had never seen them before, so I was surprised. I had never had more than the 'normal reaction' to a bite before two years ago.

 

Two summers ago, we had three types of these pests in our backyard here in north Alabama, and all three would suck on me at the same time (blech!). The familiar blackish mosquito I remember from my childhood in Florida, a large silver mosquito whose sting 'burns', but leaves a teeny tiny pinprick mark, and what I suspect is the Asian Tiger Mosquito (photo here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_tiger_mosquito). The Asian fellow makes me itch for hours (and days, if I bump the bite) and I swell. I will have welts from quarter size up to close to a 50 cent piece from these guys.

 

Pesticides may well have something to do with the changes, but it could also just be different mosquitoes migrating around. In my quick research two years ago, I learned that there are 2500-3500 different types of mosquitoes. I was surprised, as I had always just thought a 'mosquito was a mosquito'. You know, like a house fly is a house fly? I just always thought 'mosquito'. :001_huh: Boy, was I wrong!

 

I'm going to run now, as I'm feeling itchy. :D :auto:

[Corraleno]

DD7 reacts really badly to mosquito bites, too. I give her a children's chewable Benadryl and put Benadryl gel directly on the bites, and both of those really seem to help if I get to them quickly enough. Sometimes she gets bitten in her sleep, though, and we don't see the bites until morning; by then they're huge, swollen welts (and usually bleeding from DD scratching them all night). I do think that there must be a certain type of body chemistry that attracts mosquitos, because they eat DD alive but they almost never bite me, even if we're side-by-side on the patio or walking by the river.

 

For those who do react to the bites, I highly recommend both oral and topical Benadryl.

 

Jackie

[MaMa2005]

That's really an interesting question. My kids react horribly to mosquito bites. They get the huge welts. I had attributed it to them being of Korean descent, because I know other Korean born kids who have the same reaction.

 

 

My youngest DS is from China and reacts like your children. DD, who is from Thailand, also reacts horribly. (Her wedding was in St. Croix and the photographer had the bright idea of doing some shots on beach the night before the wedding :w00t: . I spent hours the next day covering the horrible bites before the wedding ceremony.)

 

My oldest DS is from Nicaragua and doesn't react AT ALL to bites.

 

Oh, how I hate mosquitoes!

[myfatherslily]

My DS4's bites are normal the first day, then get big, hard, and white in the center the next couple days. They definitely bother him and he says they hurt. They LOOK like they hurt!

 

It's just him, though. The rest of us don't get bites like that.

 

Tea tree oil is your friend. Takes the swelling down to normal and takes some of the itch away.

I'm going to try this!

[hmdavis02]

Hmmm... interesting. My third gets huge, hard, hot-to-the-touch welts after mosquito bites unless I'm quick with the benedryl. My neighbor's firstborn does the same thing. I assume it's an allergic response and can be lumped in with all the other allergies that are much worse than 30+ years ago. Why? That's my question....

[Lara in Colo]

Our mosquitoe bites don't really seem to bother us, but what I find strange is that the darned bugs are silent!!! None of the nnnnnnnnnnnnbite! just the bite. These suckers (literally) can fly right past your ear and you'd never know.

 

Lara

[Lilymax]

I've always had horrible reactions to mosquito bites. My middle son is just like me. The oldest is like his dad--neither of them get bitten frequently and when they do, it's no big deal.

 

I read that they're attracted to exhaled carbon dioxide and how much lactic acid a person exudes from their skin. Seems like there a lot of theories behind why some people get bitten more often, and react more strongly!

[jplain]

My daughter gets huge welts around mosquito bites. They're 6 inches across or more, and get hot, red, and swollen. Technically she's having an allergic (IgE-mediated) reaction to the bite, though it isn't the type of allergy that could be dangerous. Most kids outgrow the extreme reaction to mosquito bites by puberty, so I'm crossing my fingers. Until then, she gets doused with bug repellent, which we'd be doing regardless, as we live in Lyme country.

 

But from talking to other parents, I do think this is on the rise, much like other allergies (think peanut) are on the rise.... :sad:

[AnitaMcC]

Not sure if they have morphed into super mosquitos or something, but my Dd reacts severely to any bug bites.

 

A mosquito bite on her hand can cause her whole arm to swell up three times normal size. If she gets bit on the face her eyes will swell shut. She has to go on antivenom medications for some bites. Otherwise benadryl and prednisone for several days.

 

One of my boys got bit recently on his temple by something (we don't know what it was... he woke up with it). His eye swelled shut and the bite was red and hot to touch. He had to go on prednisone for three days.

Edited June 25, 2010 by AnitaMcC

[AnitaMcC]

Most kids outgrow the extreme reaction to mosquito bites by puberty, so I'm crossing my fingers. Until then, she gets doused with bug repellent, which we'd be doing regardless, as we live in Lyme country.

 

I so hope my 15 yr old DD will eventually outgrow it. She gets a systemic reaction though and it can trigger her asthma. She can get a misquito bite on her forhead and she gets puffy fingers and toes within a few hours.

 

She rarely will be outside after dusk and when she does she covers up in long sleeves/pants and sprays her clothes with bug spray. Also she takes benadryl before going outside.

[Mom0012]

I haven't read all the posts, but I wonder if it is really that the mosquitoes have morphed or if it's our immune systems that have. Think about all the people with allergies and autoimmune diseases and I can see where there would be many who have a system that "overreacts" to a mosquito bite.

 

I, myself, have never had allergies in my life, but beginning on Mother's Day this year, I developed terrible allergies to something for a few weeks to the point where I had to start taking a prescription medication.

 

Lisa

[Geek]

 

by then they're huge, swollen welts (and usually bleeding from DD scratching them all night).

Oh, I get so upset when I hear of children doing this. My little guy got a pretty bad staph infection on his legs from scratching mosquito bites. {shudder} Watch them on your daughter.