This is scientific American's 60 second science.

I'm Christopher in Tagyatta.

Chances are you've had the opportunity to study firsthand

the swollen ichy welt left by a mosquito bite and now scientists have two.

Well we haven't studied itching yet in our in our laboratory studies.

Clive McKimme an immunologist at the University of Leeds in England.

What we've shown is that the inflammation associated with bites is not good for you as a host

and it gives a virus an advantage.

To understand why, let's back up to mosquito spit.

Now I know it's a little disgusting to think about, but when a mosquito bites you,

they're actually spitting out quite a lot of saliva into your skin.

That saliva can contain viruses like Zika or chicken guinea and viruses and the

tissue damage from the bite are a rallying cry for the immune system.

McKimme and his colleagues studied that immune response in mice,

and they found that when immune cells show up at the bite,

the viruses infect them and turn those immune cells into factories for further virus replication.

Your own immune system which is meant to help your body defend itself against infection

seems to be inadvertently promoting an aspect of a virus infection.

Overall the inflammation resulted in 10 times more virus in the mice compared to being inoculated

with the virus without a bite. The study is in the virus without a bite. The study is in the journal Immunity. More viruses

means a higher chance they'll infect your organs and other mosquitoes too. So McKimmy says it might be worth testing a cheap anti-inflammatory,

like a topical ibuprofen cream to see if it cuts virus numbers.

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