Mosquito season has started and if you have the feeling that the bites are meaner than usual this year, you are right. This is how experts explain mosquito summer – and this is the best way to protect yourself.
2024 threatens to become the year of mosquitoes. The heavy rains of the past few weeks have meant that mosquitoes have found perfect breeding conditions – and they are biting particularly violently this year.
“There is some truth in the observation that mosquito bites are currently particularly severe,” explains Prof. Dr. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine from the “Bild” newspaper.
On the one hand, this is due to the wet spring. On the other hand, about the species of mosquitoes that are currently on the move: Now is “the time of spring and forest mosquitoes. Their bite is sometimes more severe than that of other mosquito species,” says Schmidt-Chanasit.
Those who have not been bitten so often are now suffering particularly. “If you have previously had less contact with this type of mosquito and are now bitten, your body’s reaction may be stronger than usual.”
This is also confirmed by the dermatologist Uta Schlossberger from Cologne: “The immune system is not so well positioned at the moment, especially in young patients.” This means that the body cannot fight off bites so well – the same applies to allergies and other skin diseases such as neurodermatitis.
The expert suspects this is a side effect of the corona pandemic: “I suspect that it is because we have the corona years behind us and there was a strain on the immune system as a result, the same of course also applies to the corona vaccination.”
The best way to combat itching is to prevent mosquito bites, either with mosquito repellent, applied to the skin or long clothing. Once you have been stung, quick heat helps against the poison in the sting. Electric stitch healers are becoming increasingly popular. By heating the skin to up to 50 degrees, they destroy the proteins in the poison – the itching subsides. Then it’s time to cool the swelling and redness. If you react particularly badly to a sting, the pharmacy can offer you not only the normal decongestant cooling gels but also ones with cortisone, which help even better.
