INTRODUCTION
Mosquito bites cause typical local cutaneous reactions in children and
adults. Although these reactions decrease quality of patients, the
symptoms resolve in several days without any systemic or severe symptoms
in the majority of the population (1). However, there are patients who
encounter unusual or “exaggerated” reactions such as large local,
atypical or systemic reactions after mosquito bites. Even if the immune
mechanisms associated with the reaction type and severity are not yet
completely found out, these patients are defined as mosquito allergic
patients and due to the limited availability of the in vivo and in vitro
diagnostic methods, the diagnosis is primarily made with the help of
clinical history and physical examination findings (2).
Several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are performed in order
to determine the natural course of the disease. It has been suggested
that natural desensitization may occur in adolescence and young children
may be at increased risk of having severe reactions to mosquito bites
(3, 4). However, the data regarding the demographic features of children
with mosquito allergy is limited.
The aim of this study was to document the characteristics of children
with mosquito allergy and investigate the possible associations between
demographic features and clinical reactions in this population.