”Ninety percent of us have some sort of allergic reaction to the saliva of a mosquito. Of those people, ten percent are extremely allergic. The more sensitive someone is, the stronger the reaction,” says Peter Csonka, a pediatrician who specialises in allergies.
Allergic reactions are strongest in the early summer before the body has become used to mosquito bites.
“After a while, people can temporarily develop tolerance to mosquito bites. This tolerance lasts as long as the mosquito season but lessens during the winter. So we go through the same thing again the following year,” says Csonka.
Mosquito bites almost immediately cause itching and swelling. For some people, the reaction eases in a couple of days. However, others notice that their reaction worsens and can continue to aggravate them for a week or two.
Csonka doesn’t recommend that people try to build up their tolerance by exposing themselves to mosquitoes.
”There are about 40 different types of mosquitoes and everyone has their own level of sensitivity to them. If you expose yourself to the Aedes mosquito and then get bit by a Culex mosquito, you’ll find your reaction will be just as strong.”
