Mosquitoes are flying, biting insects that are closely related to flies and gnats. Only the female mosquito feeds on humans, and she needs a blood meal in order to produce eggs. During a feeding, the female mosquito bites the human skin, and injects saliva. The saliva contains various proteins that prevent the blood from clotting, as well as proteins that keep the blood flowing into the mosquito’s mouth.
Many of the mosquito saliva proteins can cause immune reactions, including allergic reactions. If you are like most people with sensitive skin, you may find that you have a mosquito bite allergy. A mosquito bite allergy will appear as a very red swollen and itchy bump or bumps where mosquitoes have bitten. The allergic reaction is a reaction to the digestive enzymes and anti-coagulants that the female mosquito injects before sucking blood from your body.For the most part, children and adolescents are more likely to have a mosquito bite allergy than adults who have become immune to the mosquito’s saliva.