Researchers Explain Why Flu Comes In the Winter

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."

Comments

Re:Well, it is also linked to less vitamin D

[transporter_ii]

see:

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

Re:Interesting

[rmdingler]

What is really interesting is how many of these old hand-me-down tidbits from Grandma wind up being rooted in accuracy, even if the underlying logic is flawed. The existence of recorded information has been a boon to modern medical practices, but prior to the very last few generations, how much accurate medical knowledge one had access to was directly proportionate to the quality of the info passed down through the matriarchal network.

Re:something doesnt add up

[raymorris]

The virus is like a noodle - kept dry, it lasts a long time. Thoroughly wet, it does it's thing. Slightly moist, it goes bad.