Health

Flu virus stronger in winter

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 24, 2008

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There may be a reason why cold weather heralds the flu season, according to new findings published online March 2 in Nature Chemical Biology.

At winter temperatures, the flu virus' outer covering, or envelope, hardens to a rubbery gel that shields the virus as it passes from person to person. Once the virus, safely ensconced in its envelope, arrives in someone's respiratory tract, the body's warm temperature causes the covering to melt and free the virus to infect new cells. The activity is not unlike an M&M melting in your mouth, said lead researcher Joshua Zimmerberg, PhD, chief of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biophysics.

In warmer weather, however, the gel melts and the virus loses its ability to travel to a new host, the research team said.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/03/24/hlbf0324.htm.

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