Oh no: are wine drinkers more often bitten by mosquitoes?

Once a mosquito got me by pricking in March. I had a serious talk with it and it can't tell the tale. But now it could very well be that mosquitoes love me for my love of wine. FavorFlav’s Steffi will catch you up on mosquitoes and their preference for alcohol (which I can understand).

I’ve been feeling like a sort of scruffy little dog these past few days, as often as I’ve been scratching myself. On my neck, arms, legs and oh yes, also my butt: there are mosquito bites everywhere. Fan-tas-tic. Now I read that mosquitoes prick you more often when you drink beer. And wouldn’t you know it, I just happened to sit on a terrace last weekend. 1 + 1 = 2?

Yes. But not entirely. It turns out that not only beer, but every form of alcohol makes us more attractive to mosquitoes.

The misunderstanding arose from a Japanese study, in which they investigated whether alcohol consumption in general had an effect on attractiveness to mosquitoes. One group of participants received beer, the other group water. The choice for beer was purely coincidental. It could just as well have been wine or spirits.

What the scientists discovered is that ethanol intake increases skin temperature and sweat production, making the participants more attractive to mosquitoes. The scientists wrote: ‘Our study showed that the percentage of mosquitoes attracted to the participants was significantly higher after beer consumption, indicating that alcohol intake stimulates mosquito attraction.’

In short: cocktails, shots, beer or wine; mosquitoes love it. So just make sure you have a good mosquito net or insect repellent.