Submission + - Mistery solved: researchers explain why flu comes in the winter 1
ggrocca writes: Using human mucus as a testbed for how well influenza virus thrives in different humidity conditions http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235104578241632319689490.html, researchers at Virginia Tech found that the virus survived best if humidity is below 50%, a tipical 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: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0046789
