How much blood does one mosquito need and is it worth getting rid of it right away?
Many will agree that even a single mosquito can make a sleepless night with its squeak. But how many times it can bite is known only to the most erudite, as well as entomologists who have devoted their lives to the study of insects.
Surely someone will say that this is absolutely useless information. But one can argue with this statement. After all, children suffer the most from mosquito bites, and even a few itchy blisters will cause a lot of anxiety for adults.
Perhaps, knowing how active blood-sucking insects can be, we will begin to more seriously protect ourselves and loved ones from their bites, using all possible means.
Females and males: who is more biting?
It’s worth saying right away that only females are bloodthirsty. In the natural habitat, blood is not the only source of mosquito nutrition. Both males and females feed on plant sap and nectar. Only after fertilization does the female experience the need for protein, which is necessary for laying eggs. She finds it in the blood of animals and people.
Males that do not need protein do not bite at all, do not suck blood, but live in places with high humidity, feeding on plant nectar. Their life expectancy is on average 10 days, death occurs immediately after the fertilization process.
After fertilization, the female goes in search of blood, finding a person according to several criteria:
- the smell of lactic acid in sweat (research by American scientists in the late 90s showed that for malaria mosquitoes, for example, the smell of old rather than fresh sweat is more attractive);
- exhaled carbon dioxide;
- body warmth;
- movement.
It is so laid down by nature that the female usually goes out to hunt her prey in the evening and at night. She can lay up to 250 eggs after one fertilization, so she needs to be fed. The female drinks up to 6 ml of blood, which is twice her own weight (about 3 g).
The eggs are formed within 3 days, during which the mother mosquito does not need blood and therefore does not bite. Then the reproduction process repeats again.
Three times faster, seven times more contagious: how to resist the “omicron”
The situation with coronavirus is more than alarming. The Omicron strain has literally taken over the USA and Europe. The new virus, compared to the previous “delta”, is much more contagious and quickly spreads from person to person. In America, since the beginning of January, a million people have been infected per day, or even more; in France, the daily record is 450 thousand.
Now Omicron is sweeping across Russia. On Tuesday, a meeting of the presidium of the Government Coordination Council to combat coronavirus was held. Prime Minister Mihali Mishustin spoke about the peculiarities of the spread of the Omicron strain: “I would like to draw attention to the fact that at the moment the increase in incidence has not led to a sharp increase in the number of hospitalized patients. Namely, hospitalization today is the main indicator of the danger of the virus. So far we are not seeing the same proportion of severe cases of the disease as in the Delta situation. However, it is not entirely clear how quickly the new strain will spread. We must be prepared for any development of events.”
Important explanations regarding omicron infection were given by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova: “Of the sick people whose samples were sequenced, 27.9% had a full course of vaccination, 3.2% were vaccinated once, 68.9% were not vaccinated, previously were ill or were vaccinated (or were ill and vaccinated at the same time) - 4.6%. The experience of our colleagues from abroad speaks in favor of undergoing repeated vaccination to protect themselves from severe disease.”
For those who have not yet received the vaccine, now is the time to get it. Now for sure. Employers can also help in the fight against omicron; Prime Minister Mishustin recommended that, if possible, transfer their staff to remote work, especially for older people and those who suffer from chronic diseases. And for those who have not switched to remote work, increase testing. It was also decided to reduce the quarantine period from 14 to 7 days.
She feels every breath and counts every step. Monotonous change of days: two and a half months next to death. 21 days - one step away from her - on a ventilator. It was important for Maria to know that she could return from there. She was brought to the Covid hospital in Nizhny Novgorod in early August with the initial stage of pneumonia. But just a day later - KT4. Then the “delta” raged: it instantly ate up the lungs, leaving no strength to fight. The lungs are recovering slowly - six months have passed, but the scars remain. “Delta” is being replaced by a new strain – “omicron”. He has already crossed all borders and is rushing like a whirlwind across snow-covered Russia.
“We didn’t even realize that we had exhaled. Because “on the tail” of the “delta” there were very serious patients who required maximum attention from us. We are now ready to accept new patients with Omicron,” said Natalya Soloshenko, chief physician of the Infectious Clinical Hospital No. 23 of Nizhny Novgorod.
The incidence of Covid in Russia has surged this week. The virus is accelerating to become the dominant strain. It took Omicron five weeks. For comparison: “delta” is twenty. It evades immune defenses; 46 acquired mutations allow it to evade antibodies.
Antibodies in those who have recovered from the Wuhan virus are supposedly 40 times less effective at neutralizing “omicron.” He begins his attack on Russia from Moscow: 90% of newly ill people are carriers of this strain. It is almost impossible to close the doors to the new strain; it can penetrate walls. Omicron has learned to avoid encounters with enzymes that usually “chew” viruses. It became three times faster and seven times more contagious.
“It is possible that “omicron” will become our seasonal acute respiratory viral infection,” noted Georgy Sapronov, chief freelance infectious disease specialist at the State Medical University of the Presidential Administration.
The capital's ambulance service is accelerating in response to the virus. This week alone, the number of calls increased by a third. Under the guise of a cold - high fever, cough, sore throat, terrible weakness - a new strain is usually hidden.
“At the first signs of ARVI, such as weakness, headache, muscle pain, fever, it is necessary to take antipyretic drugs. If the temperature lasts more than 3 days, you should consult a doctor at the clinic,” recommends Elena Ishkina, head of the 6th branch of diagnostic center No. 3.
The Department of Health has issued a reminder about what symptoms to contact where to contact. If you have a cough, runny nose, or temperature not higher than 38, you can come to the clinic yourself. A doctor is called to your home when the temperature is already over 38. In severe cases, it is recommended to call an ambulance.
“When the disease has lasted for 5-7 or more days and the therapy they receive, prescribed by a doctor from the clinic, does not help, then people turn to us, and if necessary, we deliver them either to the hospital or to outpatient computed tomography centers,” said Artem Khisamov, Deputy Chief Physician of the A.S. Puchkov Ambulance Station, Deputy Chief Freelance Emergency Specialist of the Moscow Department of Health.
For patients with fever, clinics have a separate entrance and doctors on duty. Here they take a swab for Covid - a rapid test gives the result within a few minutes. The therapist prescribes treatment.
The new variant of the virus is milder than “delta” - it does not attack the human body so aggressively, but its spread speed is so high that the load on primary care will increase significantly.
Yulia has a complete record. This is her last day of appointments at the clinic. From Monday I am back on the Covid team. There are so many patients that doctors can barely cope. Already from the end of November - on the eve of a new wave.
A disaster medicine team flies through the streets of Nizhny to the sound of a siren. During the day we never visited the base. But this is not the peak of the incidence – it’s the very beginning. The driver determines the speed of the rolling wave in kilometers. We've already driven over a hundred today. The dispatcher transmits a call: pick up a patient with confirmed Covid from the hospital and take him to the infectious disease ward. Heavy. On oxygen. With severe damage to the lungs. They are ready to accept him in the 23rd city.
After the autumn wave of Covid, when the “delta” was raging, doctors had not yet had time to catch their breath. They didn't really wear white coats. They continued to work in PPE. Protective overalls, masks, respirators, goggles - everything is at the ready. The Covid hospital is also expecting an influx of patients. There is no sharp growth yet. But, according to doctors, a wave is on the way.
Patients in intensive care are still a legacy of the Delta. With severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, on oxygen support. But there are fewer patients than there were two months ago.
“The patients are not as severe. The lesion mainly affects the upper respiratory tract. That is, the lungs are affected to a lesser extent, and fever, nasal congestion and dry cough are more affected,” noted Natalya Soloshenko.
In the lower respiratory tract it spreads 10 times slower than delta. But it multiplies 70 times faster in the bronchi. Hence - bronchitis and an increase in morbidity among children.
“This is croup, when children choke, obstructive bronchitis, bronchiolitis. The situation is developing very quickly,” warned Elena Meskina, head of the children’s infectious diseases department of MONIKI, chief specialist of the Moscow Region Ministry of Health on infectious diseases in children.
Every sixth person with Covid is a child. This was not the case at the beginning of the pandemic. Children were more likely to carry the virus asymptomatically, and now they are at risk. With a high fever and cough, they are brought to the hospital by ambulance.
Coronavirus has become more likely to lead to severe complications in children. The child’s body seems to be destroyed. In the medical literature this is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Studies by European scientists have shown that it occurs much less frequently in vaccinated children.
“Children not only get sick themselves, they are also powerful carriers of infection. They come home and infect their adults. Children definitely need to be vaccinated,” said Maxim Tkachev, head of the Covid hospital at City Clinical Hospital No. 20.
“Children need to be vaccinated, because they become a more important link in the chain of infection,” emphasized Elena Meskina.
The theory of a “soft” “omicron”, when the disease is milder than with previous strains, is based not only on the changed properties of the virus. Many countries have already formed collective immunity to coronavirus, which softens the blow of the infection.
“All of these patients who are now suffering from a disease caused by the Omicron strain, they have either already been vaccinated or have previously suffered from other variants. In some ways, reinfection with Omicron causes milder symptoms. If this strain had come to us 2 years ago, Armageddon might have just happened. With such infectiousness, when there was no immune layer, I would not be surprised if we then received a million sick people a day. I hope that this new strain is the beginning of the transition of the pandemic to endemic, when we will not see overcrowded intensive care units, when cemeteries will not be overcrowded,” said Kamil Khafizov, head of the scientific group for the development of new diagnostic methods based on sequencing technologies of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Rospotrebnadzor.
Mutations that have occurred in the main spike protein of the coronavirus have made it almost invisible to the immune system. 15 of 37 substitutions occur in an important domain where two-thirds of virus-neutralizing antibodies are formed. The defense breaks through. But it cannot be said that “omicron” is completely elusive.
“When you are immune, you already have antibodies. Then you come into contact with the virus, it breaks through you. You already have a finished cell, you have already completed all the design work. You stimulate it, it immediately releases a bunch of antibodies. And this secondary type of immune response is the main task of any vaccination: when you encounter something, put memory cells in a library, and then you just pull it out of the library and scale it up. This all happens many times faster than when you first encounter the virus,” explained Denis Logunov, deputy director of the Scientific Center for Epidemiology. Gamaleya.
The Omicron strain has spread throughout Russia. But the “delta” has not left yet. It’s as if they are racing: the one who is stronger will remain in the population. And even if “omicron” is the last outbreak before the death of the coronavirus, it will laugh at the carelessness of the unvaccinated with a gloomy mask of pain.
How many times can one mosquito bite in a night?
What can one single female do to us? According to scientists studying the life of mosquitoes, one representative of the mosquito genus is capable of biting from 5 to 15 times. This amount depends on how easy it is to draw blood. If we constantly drive her away, slapping ourselves indiscriminately on the face, arms or legs, she will have to work hard and bite us as often as possible in order to gradually suck out the necessary 6 ml and get enough.
When falling asleep at night, a person does not feel pain when bitten, so the mosquito calmly sucks out its portion and flies away to lay eggs. When we are awake, we begin to interfere with the bloodsuckers. If we have enough skill, we can swat the insect. Otherwise, we will get worse.
IMPORTANT!
Let the female get enough blood, and after 10 minutes she will fly away. By driving away the female, we provoke her into repeated attacks and bites.
A female mosquito does not die after being bitten unless it is swatted by a person, trying to protect herself from the annoying insect. Perhaps in the future she will return for a new portion of blood. Don't forget to prepare!
Death after feeding
Whether a mosquito dies after biting a person depends on certain circumstances. Blood itself is quite suitable for an insect to continue to perform its functions - to live and reproduce. Even a sick person with serious health problems, infection, or virus does not harm the blood-sucking creature. Some types of mosquitoes die after laying eggs, but not after being bitten.
The risk of death increases significantly if the female bites a waking person, who is instantly able to swat the pest, barely feeling any discomfort. In this case, the mosquito’s chance of dying increases significantly. The exception is infants under 1 year of age who do not yet understand what’s what.
How many bites does a female leave during her “mosquito” life?
One female lives on average 45-55 days. Some of them die immediately after laying eggs. The rest are fertilized again and again fly in search of blood.
Mosquitoes live the longest if they:
- sufficient humidity;
- air temperature 10-25°C;
- availability of sources of plant food and blood;
- the absence of people capable of interrupting the life of insects.
Theoretically, the female can lay eggs every 3-4 days. It is easy to calculate that one female can attack 15-18 times. And this is provided that she drank the required amount of blood in one bite.
INTERESTING!
According to the observations of scientists, in practice one female produces no more than 3 clutches, therefore the actual number of her bites is much less.
Some types of mosquitoes can hibernate in winter and, waking up in the spring, live their allotted period of 30-50 days. Such long-livers are found only among females!
Is it worth starting a war with one mosquito in the house?
If we take into account all of the above, it is not difficult to understand that even one mosquito is capable of biting a person several times during the night. What if this is a child, and even one suffering from allergies? Is it worth protecting ourselves from one female that accidentally flew into our house?
Definitely worth it. And we should start with preventive measures that will stop the bloodsuckers on the threshold of our home. The most reliable protection will be mosquito nets installed on windows and doors.
A few more simple preventive measures recommended to prevent insect bites on your property:
- remove all sources of standing water around the house, including even water containers for pets;
- in areas with high concentrations of mosquitoes in the evening and at night, wear clothes that cover the body as much as possible, as well as socks and a hat;
- Be sure to stock up on natural or chemical repellents. Among natural remedies, essential oils of strong-smelling plants (citronella, lemon eucalyptus, mint, vanilla, cloves, lavender) are considered the best.
INTERESTING!
According to Australian scientists, lemon eucalyptus oil provides 95% protection against mosquitoes within 3 hours.
A mixture of citronella, lemongrass, peppermint and vanillin oils, which has a pleasant aroma for a person’s sense of smell, can repel not only mosquitoes, but also other flying blood-sucking, as well as ixodid ticks.
How to protect yourself
Firstly, you can use means that physically restrict access to the body - these are mosquito nets, mosquito nets, curtains and thick clothing. Secondly, insecticides fight mosquitoes, that is, substances that destroy insects and repellents that repel them. Insecticides are toxic and are not applied to the skin, but they can be used to treat premises. To spread the substance over a large area, for example, in a room, fumigators are used - ignited spirals or electrical devices with replaceable cartridges
It is important that the windows in the room are open - then insecticides will not accumulate to quantities dangerous to humans
