Researchers Explain Why Flu Comes In the Winter

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday January 20, 2013 @02:24AM from the cold-in-the-cold dept.

First time accepted submitter ggrocca writes "Using human mucus as a testbed for how well influenza virus thrives in different humidity conditions, researchers at Virginia Tech found that the virus survived best if humidity is below 50%, a typical indoor situation during the winter in temperate climates due to artificial heating. The virus begins to find itself at home again only when humidity reaches almost 100%. Unsurprisingly, the latter finding explains flu spikes during rainy season in tropical climates. Full paper on PLOS ONE."

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Re:Well, it is also linked to less vitamin D by transporter_ii · 2013-01-20 03:00 · Score: 5, Informative

see:
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090223/low-vitamin-d-levels-linked-to-colds

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