When a mosquito bites a human, it leaves behind some of its saliva, leading to an inflammation that can help the virus it is carrying to infect the body. However, when the white blood cells \u2013 neutrophils and myeloid \u2013 attempt to stave off the infection, at times, they themselves get infected and inadvertently replicate the virus. Thus, a group of researchers at the University of Leeds studied how the inflamed and itchy sites of mosquito bites help viruses such as Zika or dengue to infect the victim\u2019s body. The researchers used a mouse model to compare how the mice\u2019s immune system reacted to the bites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito compared to the injection of the virus without the bite. It was found that the bite increased the risk of virus infection in the body as against when the virus was introduced without a bite. This indicates that the virus\u2019s efficacy is dependent on the host\u2019s response. The research team hopes that this study will lead to further research on whether topical anti-inflammatory creams can be repurposed to treat the bite inflammation before the viruses infect the body.<\/p>\n