Influenza viruses are more likely to spread at low humidity

have a high number of flu infections during the autumn and winter months. A new study from Yale University in the United States has found that one of the key factors that makes influenza viruses more likely to spread during the fall and winter seasons is low humidity.
medical experts had previously known that low temperatures and humidity would help spread the flu virus, but little was known about how low humidity affected the body's immune system's resistance to the virus, the team said. This time, they said in a paper published in the new issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that low humidity makes the flu virus "long-straight" mainly in three ways hindering the immune system to play its due role.
they used genetically modified methods to transform laboratory mice so that they could fight viral infections through the immune system, as the human body did. The mice were then held in temperature-like compartments, but the humidity was divided into normal humidity and low humidity.
when the mice were exposed to the influenza A virus, the researchers found that the immune response of the mice in the low-humidity group was held back in three ways. First, low humidity makes respiratory cells less resistant to influenza viruses. Second, the virus can cause lung damage, which is reduced by respiratory cells at low humidity. Again, after the flu virus invades, the infected cells release interferon to alert the surrounding cells, but at low humidity, this warning mechanism fails.
researchers say the findings are a good explanation for why flu viruses are more prevalent during dry autumn and winter months. Therefore, during the flu season, prevention and control should take into account the important factor of humidity, such as the use of humidification equipment at home, schools, workplaces and even hospitals to increase air humidity, which may help people reduce flu symptoms and speed up the recovery process after infection.
, they stress that humidity is not the only factor affecting the flu outbreak. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
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