That’s a question that you hear a lot every year when winter approaches. The flu season arrives so predictably, over the last five years, scientists have finally come up with answers why cold weather helps germs to spread.
Previous theories suggested that we tend to spend more time indoors in the winter, that’s why chances of having closer contact with people who may be carrying germs increase; as a result, we get flu easily. Another popular idea is that the cold weather wears down our body’s immune system, so chances of catching flu became higher.
However recent analyses suggested that the reasons above couldn’t completely explain the yearly emergence of flu season. Instead, the answer may be because the way that sneezes lingers in the air and the air that we breathe. The dry conditions in winter actually offer a perfect environment for flu virus to flourish. We normally think that damp weather makes us ill, but in fact when we splutter with a cold, we expel a mist of particles from our nose and mouths. In moist air, these particles may remain relatively large, and drop to the floor. But in dry air, they break up into smaller pieces – eventually become so small that they can float around and stay active for hours. When the particles are inhaled or ingested, they can lodge in the cells in someone’s throat.
In other cases, the virus can also stick to more surfaces within a room during winter. So other than surviving in the air, the virus can also be thriving on everything that you touch, making it more likely to pass from hand to mouth.
Base on the new findings, a lot of people start to use air humidifier and hoping to kill the virus flying around the air, but after all, measures like vaccines and good personal hygiene are still the best ways to protect you from flu virus.
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