There's good news for anyone worried that a flu or cold could ruin the festive season. People are much less likely to sneeze and cough during cold days. Scientists suspect that flu season protects people from colds. One study examined the drastic annual decline in cold rates between October and May.
Either flu or cold
Scientists have found that people infected with the flu virus, three quarters of whom do not get sick, may be protected against rhinovirus, which is the most common cause of colds. So you would have to be particularly unlucky to catch a cold and the flu at the same time. In fact, researchers found that the infection reduced the likelihood of infection with a cold virus.
When they studied 36,000 people with viruses in their respiratory tract over a nine-year period, researchers found that only eight percent of them were infected with two viruses at the same time. Patients with flu infection were 70 percent less likely to catch a cold than patients with other viruses.
While it is important for vulnerable people such as children, those over 65 and pregnant women to protect themselves against influenzato get vaccinatedTo protect themselves from dangerous complications, healthy adults must take risks. However, there may be an advantage now. Experts believe that the body's response to the flu in the respiratory tract can block infection by the cold virus.
Optimistic research results
“It is a remarkable finding from our study that the rhinovirus, which normally causes the common cold, decreases in winter as flu activity increases. “Just as lions and hyenas compete for food resources in the Masai Mara, we believe such viruses may compete for resources in the respiratory tract. “Or it could be that the immune response to the flu then also fights off colds.” That's what Dr. said. Sema Nickbakhsh, lead author of the study from the Center for Virus Research at the University of Glasgow.
This is the first study of patients tested for 11 viruses simultaneously over an extended period of time. If both viruses have problems at the same time, it could explain why children under five get colds more often. Older students therefore belong to the age group that suffers more often from influenza.
Experts spent nine years building computer models of 11 viral infections and found that only influenza A, a strain that includes swine flu, and rhinovirus rarely occurred together. This may explain why colds decreased during the swine flu outbreak in 2009. So the flu could destroy cells in the respiratory tract as well as the “door” on the outside that lets in other viruses.
The body produces a chemical called interferonagainst colds than from the flutriggered short-lived immune reaction in the first few days. This can also offer protection against colds. “My team is currently conducting experiments to understand how viruses, including influenza and rhinovirus, interact. That's what Dr. said. Pablo Murcia, senior research author at the University of Glasgow.
“If we understand how viruses interact and how certain viral infections promote or inhibit each other, we may be able to develop better methods to fight off viruses.” You can find the link to the studyhere.
