Why do children get bitten by mosquitoes?

The main food of mosquitoes is human blood and children are often victims of this insect. When bitten by a mosquito, the bite on the baby's skin may not appear immediately, but often after a while or even after a few hours, accompanied by itching and swelling of the bite.
Children are often bitten by mosquitoes for many reasons such as:
Children have a faster metabolism than adults, exercise more, and sweat more easily. In that case, children are more visible and attractive targets for mosquitoes, more susceptible to bites; Children with blood type O are more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes; Children wear dark clothes; On the skin of children, there are many types of bacteria that naturally reside; Children love to play in the shade - where mosquitoes hide; Children with Skeeter syndrome also tend to be more attracted to mosquitoes.

Children who are bitten by mosquitoes may face a number of risks such as:

If bitten by a mosquito, the child's expression will be different depending on the location and the type of mosquito that transmits the disease. Mosquito bites in children can be red on the skin and then go away, but if the child has a lot of itching and then scratches, it can cause the skin to be scratched, creating an opportunity for viruses and bacteria to attack, causing skin infections and scar formation.

Mosquitoes are one of the dangerous infectious animals that can cause many diseases, including dengue fever.
Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease, caused by the Dengue virus, which can break out into an epidemic. The disease is spread quickly by mosquitoes that bite an infected person with dengue virus and then transmit the disease to healthy people through the bite. The disease often breaks out into epidemics in the rainy season, especially in the months of July - October.
Children are more susceptible to dengue fever than adults because they are playful and like to play in shady places, bushes, so they are easily attacked by mosquitoes. labour. At the same time, children often play, sweat a lot, so mosquitoes are easy to detect and bite. In addition, when bitten by mosquitoes, children's resistance is also weaker than adults, so they are more susceptible to diseases.
Dengue fever has many manifestations, with rapid progression from mild to severe. If not detected early and treated promptly, the disease can lead to death.

Skeeter syndrome is an allergic reaction to proteins in mosquito saliva. The manifestation of people with Skeeter syndrome is that after being bitten by a mosquito, the bite site will become inflamed (swelling, hot, red, itchy or painful). Some cases have quite serious reactions such as swelling of the face, eyes, legs, hands, bruising, vomiting, fever or difficulty breathing,...
People with Skeeter syndrome are at risk of skin infections because Mosquito bites are easily scratched, creating conditions for viruses and bacteria to enter and cause disease. Therefore, if a child has a fever after being bitten by a mosquito or the bite is swollen, red, and does not improve after a few days, parents should take the child to the doctor to rule out the risk of infection.
In addition, mosquitoes are also the vectors that transmit many other dangerous diseases such as malaria, Japanese encephalitis, Zika virus infection, yellow fever,...

For children who are often bitten by mosquitoes, parents need to pay attention to the following:
Regularly cut children's nails or wear long clothes so that if they are bitten by mosquitoes, children will not scratch so hard that they will scratch them. skin; Do not apply wind oil to mosquito bites because hot wind oil can make the sting more red, causing skin blisters and blisters; If the mosquito bite makes the child uncomfortable and wants to scratch, parents can apply a cool compress to the baby (pay attention not to apply ice directly because it can cause frostbite). Parents should apply by wrapping a cloth outside the ice and then applying it to the child's skin; Do not arbitrarily apply any medicine to the child's skin. Because some skin creams contain high doses of corticosteroids that will not be good for children. Even some skin creams can cause skin allergies, making your baby's condition worse. Therefore, parents only apply medicine to children when prescribed by a doctor; When a mosquito bite is scratched by a child scratching, parents need to consult a doctor before applying the medicine to avoid the risk of skin infection. If the child is suspected of having Skeeter syndrome, dengue fever or other diseases caused by mosquito bites, parents should take the child to the doctor to have the child's condition diagnosed correctly and the appropriate treatment plan available.

Killing mosquitoes, swarms, larvae, ... is an effective measure to prevent mosquito bites. Some notes include:
Eliminate mosquito breeding places, kill larva, larvae by covering water containers so that mosquitoes do not let eggs in. In addition, families should release fish into water containers such as jars, jars, wells, etc. to kill larvae and larvae. At the same time, families should pay attention to cleaning water containers such as jars, jars, ... weekly; Collect and destroy waste in and around the house such as bottles, bottles, coconut shells, butter tubes, bamboo hollows, leaf sheaths, etc. Turn unused water containers upside down; Change the vase water regularly; When children go out to play, they should wear long-sleeved clothes. When sleeping, it is necessary to sleep under a net to avoid mosquitoes. At the same time, families should use mosquito repellant spray, mosquito repellant cream, mosquito-killing electric racket, ... to kill mosquitoes. For families with dengue fever, it is necessary for the patient to lie under a mosquito net to avoid mosquito bites to avoid spreading the disease to others. From the fact that children are more often bitten by mosquitoes than adults. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to the risk of mosquito bites for children to avoid the case of the baby contracting dengue fever or other dangerous infectious diseases caused by mosquitoes.
For more nutritional knowledge and child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, pediatric and nutrition experts of the National General Hospital. Vinmec when needing advice on children's health.