# Anyone else think musquito welts are bigger now then three decades ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502 "2012-07-17T08:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/1 "2012-07-17T08:01:18Z")
My toddler has had some musquito bites, and I was frankly alarmed at how large and how itchy those bites become if scratched even a little bit. The mosquite bites I remember from my childhood (I’m 44) were insignificant little red bumps that faded overnight. I would have thougt that is just me misremembering, but I’ve heard from several other people that they, too, think musquito bites have become larger and more troublesome. So, is there any truth to that? Do we have different musquitos now? Different body chemistry due to different food/medicine? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/2 "2012-07-17T08:05:02Z")
My bites are the same as they were 20 years ago ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/3 "2012-07-17T09:01:33Z")
If you are comparing your bites to your toddlers bites, chances are your toddler is more sensitive to whatever is in mozzie spit than you are. I get huge welts, same bug gives mrAru tiny little red spots. Stupid mozzies ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/4 "2012-07-17T11:50:29Z")
People react quite differently to skeeter bites, and those reactions can change as we age. Your comparison with your toddler doesn’t demonstrate anything about mosquito bites, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/5 "2012-07-17T12:57:09Z")
The past couple of years I’ve had smaller reactions to mosquito bites. I used to get huge bumps that itched like crazy. Now I feel the bite, there’s a barely noticeable bump, and after a few minutes any itching is gone. They don’t bite me as much anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/6 "2012-07-17T13:17:56Z")
My mosquito bites are smaller than when I was a child. Before, I used to be able to leave an entire fingernail imprint on them but now it’s not even large enough to notice that it’s a line when I press. I also get fewer bites despite living in Florida, so perhaps I’ve also gotten less attractive to mosquitos. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/7 "2012-07-17T13:28:52Z")
My mosquito bites are the same size as when I was younger, but I find that they itch way longer and stick around for weeks and are painful for a week or so after they stop itching… I don’t remember them lasting this long or having a painful stage when I was younger. I am now 42. I have no toddler to run comparison experiments on. Can someone loan me one? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/8 "2012-07-17T13:52:28Z")
Mine are smaller and less itchy. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/9 "2012-07-17T13:55:08Z")
Mine are larger, but I have also become sensitive to several other things in my old age (heh) that didn’t bother me when I was a kid. My toddler reacts hugely to them, though I did not. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/10 "2012-07-17T13:55:43Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I have no toddler to run comparison experiments on. Can someone loan me one? From my recollection of the toddler years you should soon be overwhelmed with offers 😃 I agree with the thread on mozzie bites however, they are definitely different from person to person and in a cruel twist of fate those who react more often seem to get bitten more. Mozzies are bitches. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/11 "2012-07-17T14:17:31Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > If you are comparing your bites to your toddlers bites, chances are your toddler is more sensitive to whatever is in mozzie spit than you are. > > I get huge welts, same bug gives mrAru tiny little red spots. Stupid mozzies ☹ That’s right. I always knew kids at summer camp absolutely covered in huge, sometimes bleeding mosquito welts. I rarely got bit and if they did bite me, the bump would go down to nothing in an hour. Your toddler is just more sensitive than you. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/12 "2012-07-17T14:18:19Z")
people’s responses will vary with person and age. well into adulthood i stopped swatting them and let a few of them bite early in the biting season(s). they would itch as normal, i had stopped scratching many years earlier because it only makes it worse. later bites would not produce such a response as they had when i always swatted as i had through all my previous years. you can try it based on your response and if you are in an area with skeeter borne diseases. another added benefit is you can squick people out as you let them fill and they get all bothered. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/13 "2012-07-17T14:20:46Z")
What I’ve noticed is that the skeeters are more stealthy where I live now than when I was a kid. In Maine you knew when they bit you. Here I never feel them bite, but they are definitely getting me from the welts I see in the mornings. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/14 "2012-07-17T14:23:34Z")
I seem to have become almost immune; mosquitoes rarely bite me these days. Even when we slept in the same bed near a lake, my wife woke up covered with bites, and I didn’t have a one. I guess I’m not tasty any more. And when they _do_ bite me, the itchiness lasts only a few minutes, maybe one scratching session, instead of days. I recall having bites that itched so much I scratched them horribly raw, opening big oozing sores. Now, I hardly notice bites at all. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/15 "2012-07-17T15:14:26Z")
Oh, man, when I was a kid I would get these GIGANTIC mosquito bite blotches. Now I only get small red ones. My toddler seems to get something in-between – larger than the ones I get now, but nothing in comparison to the sort I got as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/16 "2012-07-17T15:24:25Z")
Mine don’t seem to last as long these days. After the initial bite I get a big raised bump that itches like mad. Withing a half hour they turn to small red dots that don’t itch as much. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/17 "2012-07-17T15:45:20Z")
Huh. So it’s just different for different individuals and may be different at different times in the individuals life. [Wiki says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito#Mosquito_bites_and_treatment): > [@](#): > > Visible, irritating bites are due to an immune response from the binding of IgG and IgE antibodies to antigens in the mosquito’s saliva. Some of the sensitizing antigens are common to all mosquito species, whereas others are specific to certain species. There are both immediate hypersensitivity reactions (types I and III) and delayed hypersensitivity reactions (type IV) to mosquito bites.[67] Both reactions result in itching, redness and swelling. Immediate reactions develop within a few minutes of the bite and last for a few hours. Delayed reactions take around a day to develop, and last for up to a week. Several anti-itch medications are commercially available, including those taken orally, such as Benadryl, or topically applied antihistamines and, for more severe cases, corticosteroids, such as hydrocortisone and triamcinolone. Using a brush to scratch the area surrounding the bite (but not the bite itself) and running hot water (around 49 °C or 120 °F) over it can alleviate itching for several hours by reducing histamine-induced skin blood flow.[68] Tea tree oil has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory, reducing itching.[69] Here’s an i[nteresting article](http://scienceline.org/2007/09/ask-knight-mosquitoes/)on why some people get bitten more then others. Musquitos seem to have a preference for: a. people with bloodtype O b. pregnant women c. people who’ve drunk some alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/18 "2012-07-17T15:57:02Z")
I’d imagine different species are prevalent from year to year, and people might react differently to different types of them. Last year we kept getting those huge striped ones (tiger mosquitos?) and this year each one I’ve swatted has been tiny and solid-colored. Well, until smushy-time, that is. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/19 "2012-07-17T16:11:50Z")
Mine are worse when I travel and get bitten by mosquitoes from other regions. As per the Wikipedia link in post #17, hot water, or, better, a hot cloth, held against the bite/welt, helps reduce the swelling and itching. It should be very hot, as hot as you can stand it. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502/20 "2012-07-17T16:23:11Z")
You probably have more tolerance to mosquito bites than your toddler. Or your toddler could be allergic. My mosquito bites look like ping-pong balls, and I get flu-like symptoms if I’m bitten too much. When I was a child, they were more like tennis balls. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-think-musquito-welts-are-bigger-now-then-three-decades-ago/628502.md?page=2)