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Health

Catching malaria makes you smell more attractive to mosquitoes

By Jessica Hamzelou

16 April 2018

A female mosquito

The Anopheles gambiae mosquito spreads the parasite that causes malaria

DR TONY BRAIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The tiny mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria may also change the body odour of those they infect, making people more attractive to mosquitoes that spread it.

It is well-known that some people seem to attract more mosquito bites than others. Past research has suggested that the chemicals found in body odour – which may be influenced by your genes or hormones – play a role in how attractive you are. Ailie Robinson at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and …

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