Cold viruses become active in colder temperatures, scientists confirm

Finally, there is scientific confirmation of what the world has always known. Researchers have confirmed that cold temperatures do trigger off the cold, that is, the most common global infection marked by runny noses, sniffles and sneezes. A team from Yale scientists found that cold temperatures dampen the body’s natural defenses against a rhinovirus, the leading cause of seasonal colds, the scientific journal Nature has reported. Their experiments were done on mice and artificially grown human cells from respiratory tract. “What we show here is a temperature-dependent interaction between the host and the virus,” says team leader Ellen Foxman, according to Nature. The research findings were presented at an American Society of Microbiology conference in Denver, Colorado. Although it is well established that colds are more common in autumn and winter, when temperatures are lower, but efforts to link the rhinovirus to temperature fluctuations have not succeeded. Some studies have shown that exposure...