Understanding the Transmission of Respiratory Winter Viruses
4 reasons why certain viruses — including coronaviruses — thrive in the winter environment.
A recent review published in the Annual Reviews of Virology explains why the winter environment helps certain viruses to thrive. Researchers call them winter viruses which include influenza virus, human coronavirus (HCoV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The review was written by Miyu Moriyama, a postdoctoral fellow in immunobiology, with supervision from Akiko Iwasaki, a professor at the Departments of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University.
Factor 1: Viability & Transmission
Winter viruses are best viable at low RH whereas high RH favors summer or all-time viruses. Viable means that the microbe is active so they can be infectious. RH means relative humidity that rises with temperature. In other words, low temperature helps winter viruses to spread more efficiently.
