What diseases do mosquitoes carry?

Mosquitoes - annoying insects, the annoying squeak of which sometimes deprives rest and sleep. In addition, a bite of a rather innocuous-looking bloodsucker often causes infection of very serious infectious diseases. Therefore, the questions which diseases these little vampires can reward and whether a mosquito can infect AIDS are some of the most frequently asked.

What is dangerous mosquito bites

Science knows more than 3 thousand species of mosquitoes, about 100 of them live on the territory of the Russian Federation. Insects are distributors of various viruses and bacteria, and therefore, their mosquito bites can pose a serious danger to human health.

What diseases do mosquitoes carry?

In our climate, bloodsucking insect bites usually cause allergic reactionmosquitoes of the tropical and subtropical climate are capable of transmitting infections that pose a danger to human life.

Malaria

One of the most dangerous diseases that a mosquito can infect a person is malaria. Often the disease is referred to as swamp fever. It is especially common in tropical and subtropical countries. The characteristic signs of the disease are manifestations of chills and fever, nausea and headache, as well as malaise and general weakness.

Important!

The cause of the disease is plasmodium, a microorganism of the protozoan group, which can be of the following types: P. malariae, P. vivax, P.ovale and the most dangerous P. falciparum. The Anopheles females, called malaria mosquitoeshaving drunk the blood of an already infected person. Then the parasites develop in the body of the insect within 10-18 days, and then are transmitted with saliva to the next victim during a bite.

Caught in the bloodstream after malaria bite plasmodium affects the liver, where it begins to actively grow and multiply. Subsequently, it again enters the bloodstream and multiplies in red blood cells until the blood cells begin to burst. As a result, parasites will be in the plasma. The development cycle of plasmodia is repeated every two days, from which the person infected with the disease experiences fever.

Tularemia

The carrier of this disease, characterized by damage to the lymph nodes, severe intoxication and fever, are hares, rabbits and small rodents. The infection can spread through blood-sucking insects (mosquitoes, mosquitoes, ticks or horseflies). However, this is not the only way to contract tularemia. You can catch the disease from an infected animal, butchering an infectious skin.

Zika virus

Another of the most dangerous diseases, the consequence of which is a birth defect, referred to as microcephaly. As a result of such a neurological disorder, children with a small head and developmental pathology are born.

Zika virus is transmitted by two-winged species Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito) and Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito).Dangerous mosquitoes of the genus Aedes are present and carry diseases in Russia (found on the Caucasian Black Sea coast and in Abkhazia).

On a note!

However, a mosquito will become a carrier of Zika virus only if it bites a person infected with this disease. At the moment, such people in the territory of our country have not been found, therefore, do not worry about this.

West Nile Virus

An equally dangerous disease, the causative agents of which penetrate the human body along with the saliva of a bloodsucker that previously feeds on the blood of infected birds. Once in the bloodstream, they affect the brain and central nervous system, as a result of which the victim experiences severe headaches and fever, his lymph nodes swell and cramps appear. In the most severe cases, the consequence of infection can be fatal.

On a note!

The harm from the bites of such mosquitoes happened to experience the residents of the Krasnodar Territory, as well as the Astrakhan, Voronezh and Rostov regions.

Yellow fever

On this disease transmitted by mosquitoes does not end there. Yellow fever is another virus transmitted through the bite of a blood-sucking insect. Its distributor is a representative of the species Aedes Aegypti, living in equatorial Africa and Central South America.

Arbovirus infection is accompanied by damage to blood vessels, resulting in frequent bleeding. Hepatic failure also develops, accompanied by yellowing of the skin.

Dengue fever

A disease that is transmitted from person to person through the bite of a mosquito of the species Aedes aegypti. The mosquito is able to transmit the virus about a week after the bite of an infected person. After 4-5 days, a person begins to feel severe pain in the muscles and joints, after which a rash and pain in the eyes appear. With a prolonged course of the disease, bleeding may occur. Especially often the people of Africa and Southeast Asia are exposed to dengue virus.

Chikungunya

Another virus spread by the Aedes mosquitoes that we already know. An infected person may experience severe pain in the joints and in the lower back, a sharp increase in body temperature and chills, nausea and vomiting. More often the inhabitants of Africa suffer from such a disease, an isolated case has been recorded in America, on the territory of our country no one has become infected with Chikungunya.

Can I get AIDS from a mosquito

The question is whether disease vectors such as mosquitoes can transmit AIDS are of interest to many people. To begin with, it should be understood that AIDS is a set of disorders in the body, the consequence of which is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Therefore, based on the foregoing, it becomes clear that only HIV can be infected, but not AIDS.

We hasten to reassure everyone, HIV is not transmitted through a mosquito bite. This fact is explained by the fact that the cells of the causative agent of the disease when exposed to the external environment are viable for a fairly short period. Insects that bite HIV-infected people can only be dangerous if they immediately hit a healthy person after eating an AIDS-infected person.

On a note!

However, modern science today does not have the facts that mosquitoes carry HIV and AIDS. Yes, and a mosquito female that is fed up after a meal is unlikely to need an additional portion of human blood. Satisfying hunger, she goes in search of a cozy place for digesting food and assimilating the nutrients necessary for future offspring.

For this reason, bloodsuckers cannot transmit hepatitis. Even if a mosquito attacked an infected person, the virus dies very quickly in its saliva. Hepatitis viruses do not survive in the digestive organs of an insect, since hepatocytes (liver cells) are necessary for their reproduction.And this is impossible due to the fact that the liver of mosquitoes simply does not exist. The causative agents of other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes (the same malarial plasmodium) in insect saliva are safely preserved.

On a note!

The topic of HIV and AIDS causes concern and fear in many people. However, such manifestations are completely exaggerated. Communicating with a person with AIDS at a household level is completely safe.

AIDS is not transmitted through coughing, shaking hands, or contacting handrails in public transport. You can not get AIDS with a joint exercise or using a bath (toilet). You can not catch HIV even with a kiss, due to the fact that the concentration of the virus in the saliva is insufficient for infection.

You can only get AIDS if you have unprotected intercourse, when you reuse syringes, shavers, or a piercing and tattooing tool. An expectant mother is also capable of contracting AIDS during gestation.