It Should

[XCR1250]

Will Coronavirus slow down in the warmer months like flu season?

 

JULIA RIES

Feb 28th 2020 9:42AM

 

 

It’s well known that the flu ebbs and flows with the weather each year. During the colder months, the virus strikes hard, infecting millions nationwide — but when spring rolls around, the illness begins to lose strength and flu activity subsides until the next cold season.

That’s because respiratory viruses like the flu are more powerful in cool, dry air. The colder temps allow them to multiply easier and spread faster. With spring right around the corner, many are wondering if — like the flu — coronavirus cases may dwindle with the warmer weather. 

Around the world, infectious disease experts are hoping this will be the case, though it’s still too soon to know exactly how the novel coronavirus (known as COVID-19) will respond to the new season. Remember, we’ve never seen this virus before, and researchers are scrambling to figure out how this disease survives and spreads. Here’s what we know so far:

WEATHER HAS AFFECTED OTHER CORONAVIRUSES 

Before COVID-19, other coronaviruses triggered an international public health emergency: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle-Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012.

These coronaviruses aren’t the same, but they do share a handful of similarities. The makeup of COVID-19 is about a 79% match to SARS-CoV and a 50% match to MERS, so we can potentially learn a thing or two from how those outbreaks played out. 

Looking back at SARS, one study identified an 18-fold increase of infections in colder temps compared to warmer days. Another report looked at how the virus behaved in different environments and found that its viability rapidly declined at higher temperatures and humidity levels. The researchers found the SARS virus became increasingly inactivated as temperatures and humidity rose. 

Similarly to SARS, MERS — which was mostly spread from animals to humans — also seemed to be stronger in cold, dry weather. Researchers in one study stated, “coronaviruses have been shown to exhibit strong seasonal variation in natural hosts.” They found that that colder, drier conditions increased the risk of MERS transmission from camels to humans. 

Four coronaviruses circulate around the world every year, causing common colds. Studies have shown they’re also more prevalent in the fall and winter compared to the summer months.

Dr. Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Arizona, told HuffPost he expects COVID-19 to pan out similarly to other coronaviruses, given that it’s spreading and “behaving a lot like the common cold coronaviruses.”

So, it’s possible COVID-19 could calm down come late spring ― but it’s not a guarantee.

“Viruses can be unpredictable, so it is very important to be cautiously optimistic about this,” said Dr. Ellen Foxman, a Yale Medicine clinical pathologist and researcher in the school’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Virology Laboratory. This is a rapidly evolving situation, Foxman added, and infectious disease experts will need to continually reevaluate their plans as they learn more.

GETTY IMAGES

WHY DOES COLD AIR HAVE THAT EFFECT?

So, the flu, SARS and MERS all fare better in chillier climates. But what about cold weather makes them rev up? It boils down to a few factors, health experts say. 

First, certain viruses have an easier time surviving and reproducing in colder temperatures. Many respiratory viruses hang out in the nasal passages and airways of the lung, and there’s growing evidence that when these areas are cooler (from inhaling cooler air), the body’s natural antiviral defenses suffer, Foxman said. She added that sunlight can inactivate certain viruses.

Meanwhile, viruses also thrive without humidity. “In the winter, relative humidity goes down because of heating in homes, so the virus survives longer,” Gerba said. 

In addition, people tend to huddle indoors together when it’s cold outside. Doing so increases the risk of being exposed to other people’s illnesses, either through their respiratory droplets circulating through the air or via contaminated surfaces. 

Lastly, our immune systems suffer in cold weather. The lack of sunshine causes a drop in people’s Vitamin D levels, which has a major role in managing our immune responses, or ability to fight infections. Some believe that cool air causes our blood vessels to constrict, which may make it harder for white blood cells to move about our bodies and fight germs. 

[Anler]

It's all a hoax anyway, it's not real. 

[XCR1250]

7 minutes ago, Anler said:

It's all a hoax anyway, it's not real. 

Not anywhere near as bad as SARS or the Flu.

[Anler]

1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

Not anywhere near as bad as SARS or the Flu.

Sars is a coronavirus. 

[steve from amherst]

2 minutes ago, Anler said:

Sars is a coronavirus. 

So isn't a cold.

[XCR1250]

2 minutes ago, Anler said:

Sars is a coronavirus. 

Yes, just like the new virus..

 82,000 people have gotten the Corona Virus, there are 7.8 BILLION people in the World, what is the percentage?? 

[AKIQPilot]

1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

Yes, just like the new virus..

 82,000 people have gotten the Corona Virus, there are 7.8 BILLION people in the World, what is the percentage?? 

Give it a little time. Covid-19 has only been around since January. 

[XCR1250]

1 minute ago, AKIQPilot said:

Give it a little time. Covid-19 has only been around since January. 

Warmer weather will end it.

[AKIQPilot]

10 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

Warmer weather will end it.

End it? No. No it wont. 

[XCR1250]

1 minute ago, AKIQPilot said:

End it? No. No it wont. 

Link?

[AKIQPilot]

Just now, XCR1250 said:

Link?

 Bet?  

[XCR1250]

 

Could warmer weather slow the spread of the coronavirus? If all goes well, the new virus SARS-CoV-2, may behave like the influenza virus. Then spring, with its rising temperatures, would kill the pathogens - and stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease. The coronavirus season would pass away just like the annual flu wave, which starts to ebb when winter ends.

Spring may be the season of hope, but it's still too early to say accurately whether SARS-CoV-2 behaves as the influenza virus. Virologist Thomas Pietschmann says, experts can't yet predict the trajectory of the virus because "honestly speaking, we do not know the virus yet."

Pietschmann is a molecular virologist at the Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, called Twincore, in Hanover, Germany. He researches so-called RNA viruses, including for example the hepatitis C virus. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to this group.

[Anler]

1 minute ago, AKIQPilot said:

 Bet?  

It's all a Chinese hoax, it doesn't even exist. 

[XCR1250]

2 minutes ago, AKIQPilot said:

 Bet?  

 I never bet..Are you hoping it gets worse? 

[XCR1250]

Just now, Anler said:

It's all a Chinese hoax, it doesn't even exist. 

Link?

[Anler]

Just now, XCR1250 said:

 

Could warmer weather slow the spread of the coronavirus? If all goes well, the new virus SARS-CoV-2, may behave like the influenza virus. Then spring, with its rising temperatures, would kill the pathogens - and stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease. The coronavirus season would pass away just like the annual flu wave, which starts to ebb when winter ends.

Spring may be the season of hope, but it's still too early to say accurately whether SARS-CoV-2 behaves as the influenza virus. Virologist Thomas Pietschmann says, experts can't yet predict the trajectory of the virus because "honestly speaking, we do not know the virus yet."

Pietschmann is a molecular virologist at the Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, called Twincore, in Hanover, Germany. He researches so-called RNA viruses, including for example the hepatitis C virus. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to this group.

Seriously don, you are a fake news whore. 

[XCR1250]

Just now, Anler said:

Seriously don, you are a fake news whore. 

That came from John Hopkins link.

[Anler]

1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

That came from John Hopkins link.

Did you read it? I boldened the fake parts for you. 

[AKIQPilot]

4 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

 I never bet..Are you hoping it gets worse? 

Of course not but it wont end with the upcoming warm weather. Your premise in this thread is that it will end with warmer weather. I say it will not end with the upcoming warmer weather. 

[XCR1250]

1 minute ago, Anler said:

Did you read it? I boldened the fake parts for you. 

So they're lying?? Ok, you win..

[XCR1250]

Just now, AKIQPilot said:

Of course not but it wont end with the upcoming warm weather. Your premise in this thread is that it will end with warmer weather. I say it will not end with the upcoming warmer weather. 

Let's then both hope that it will end..

[AKIQPilot]

Just now, XCR1250 said:

So they're lying?? Ok, you win..

Read your own article. They aren't lying. They are guessing. 

[Anler]

1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

So they're lying?? Ok, you win..

DID YOU READ IT???? It's a speculation piece! Read it again and again. I even boldened it for you. Ffs

[XCR1250]

Just now, AKIQPilot said:

Read your own article. They aren't lying. They are guessing. 

It's a lot like lots of news, being sensationalized. 

[f7ben]

4 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

It's a lot like lots of news, being sensationalized. 

I believe your cracker has slipped off the cheese old friend. Much like my own mother it is tough for me to watch.