--- title: Itchy Mosquito Bites Help Spread Disease By Inflammation description: Inflammation and itch from mosquito bites help the virus replicate and spread disease, which has implications for Zika and dengue canonical: https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-21T16:00:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:25.375Z article:section: Health og:title: Mosquito Bite Itchiness Helps Viruses Spread og:description: Inflammation and itch from mosquito bites help the virus replicate and spread disease, which has implications for Zika and dengue og:url: https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176cc0e5ad5d5db2/698898c1428a9e7f03cd3211/mosquito-bites.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: Asian Tiger Mosquito biting, Spain og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mosquito Bite Itchiness Helps Viruses Spread twitter:description: Inflammation and itch from mosquito bites help the virus replicate and spread disease, which has implications for Zika and dengue twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176cc0e5ad5d5db2/698898c1428a9e7f03cd3211/mosquito-bites.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mosquito Bite Itchiness Helps Viruses Spread > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3927a064-0ac4-4afc-b078-03e4caa75e03&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 12,000 Pregnant Women in Colombia Have Zika [Watch (HLS stream): 12,000 Pregnant Women in Colombia Have Zika](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SRAOnkbs.m3u8) (0:49)  _Published 2016-06-16. An early report on Zika spread in Colombia reveals that close to 12,000 pregnant women have the virus._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 21, 2016 4:00 PM UTC  Female of the Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) biting on human skin and bloodfeeding to generate a new egg batch. Invasive, potentially disease-carrying species around the world, photographed in Catalonia, Spain, where it is present since 2004. Female of the Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) biting on human skin and bloodfeeding to generate a new egg batch. Invasive, potentially disease-carrying species around the world, photographed in Catalonia, Spain, where it is present since 2004. Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 21, 2016 4:00 PM UTC The purpose of a [mosquito bite’s itch](http://time.com/4177122/mosquitoes-diseases-zika-virus/) might not be just to bother you. The bite’s very itchiness also helps viruses spread, according to a [new study](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2016.06.002). In the paper published in the journal _Immunity_, researchers report that the inflammation and itchiness that accompany mosquito bites both [help the virus spread around the body](http://time.com/4219582/zika-virus-how-spreads-mosquitoes/) and increase the odds that the virus causes sickness. The study authors allowed some mice to be bitten by mosquitoes and then injected a virus into the bite site. They also injected a virus into mice without mosquito bites and compared the reactions. They found that when a mosquito injects its saliva into the skin, it spurs a response from the immune system which sends cells to the location of the bite. What was surprising, the researchers say, is that some of the immunity cells were infected and helped replicate the virus, allowing it to further spread. When the mice were infected with the virus without a mosquito bite, the virus did not replicate as well, suggesting the mosquito bite process plays a role in viral transmission through the body. Findings from mice studies cannot be directly translated to humans, but the study adds to the knowledge of how mosquitoes spread disease. “Inflammation caused by mosquito bites helps viruses to establish a successful infection,” says study author Clive McKimmie, a research fellow at the University of Leeds, in an email. “Mosquito bites are not just annoying but they are key for the virus to cause disease.” Viruses that can be spread through mosquito saliva include [Zika](http://time.com/4371779/zika-virus-birth-defects-us/), which is rapidly spreading through the Americas, as well as [dengue](http://time.com/4318624/zika-virus-and-birth-defects-what-you-need-to-know/) and [chikungunya](http://time.com/3631711/chikungunya-epidemic-2014/?iid=sr-link1). But according to McKimmie, it can be hard for public health experts to predict which viruses will cause epidemics because there are so many different kinds. The Zika virus, for example, was not very well studied before the current outbreak because scientists did not know that it caused birth defects. “All these viruses have one thing in common: they start with a mosquito bite,” says McKimmie. “We hope that we can dampen the inflammation at the bite site using an anti-inflammatory cream.” By using such a treatment, McKimmie and his colleagues think it’s possible to stop the inflammation and spread of the disease through the body. However, more research is needed to determine the efficacy of such a strategy. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] As of April, there were nearly 66, 000 reported Zika cases in Colombia, but that number is likely an underestimate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/"},"headline":"Mosquito Bite Itchiness Helps Viruses Spread","datePublished":"2016-06-21T16:00:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:25.375Z","description":"The bumps from mosquito bites mean viruses are spreading more effectively","url":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Disease","viruses","inflammation","Zika virus","Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176cc0e5ad5d5db2/698898c1428a9e7f03cd3211/mosquito-bites.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176cc0e5ad5d5db2/698898c1428a9e7f03cd3211/mosquito-bites.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Asian Tiger Mosquito biting, Spain","caption":"Asian Tiger Mosquito biting, Spain","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/","name":"Mosquito Bite Itchiness Helps Viruses Spread"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"12,000 Pregnant Women in Colombia Have Zika","description":"An early report on Zika spread in Colombia reveals that close to 12,000 pregnant women have the virus.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SRAOnkbs/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-06-16T14:36:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SRAOnkbs.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/","duration":"PT49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4376357/mosquito-bites-itchy-virus-disease/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```