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posted by martyb on Friday November 04 2016, @03:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the warm+moist=danger dept.

Using the empirical dynamic modeling (EDM) approach developed by Scripps ecologist George Sugihara and colleagues, the scientists analyzed nearly 20 years of global influenza data from the World Health Organization's Global Health Atlas to uncover a positive association between flu outbreaks, absolute humidity, which is the amount of moisture in the air, and temperature across all latitudes. The study, led by Scripps postdoctoral researcher Ethan Deyle, found a critical temperature window of 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit (21-24 degrees Celsius). Humidity levels above and below the temperature window become a key factor in the spread of the virus.

According to the researchers, "with further laboratory testing, these population-level results could help set the stage for public health initiatives such as placing humidifiers in schools and hospitals during cold, dry, temperate winters and in the tropics, perhaps using dehumidifiers or air conditioners set above 75° F to dry air in public buildings." The study's findings were published on Oct. 31 in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The analysis allowed us to see what environmental factors were driving influenza," said Sugihara, the McQuown Chair Distinguished Professor of Natural Science and a coauthor of the study. "We found that it wasn't one factor by itself, but temperature and humidity together."

An abstract is available: Ethan R. Deyle et al, Global environmental drivers of influenza, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1607747113.

Maybe they can kill two birds with one stone and use the water pulled out of the air by dehumidifiers to fill water coolers or flush toilets.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @06:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @06:15PM (#422553)

    Flu spreads when people have a runny nose or sneeze or cough. Noses and throats are irritated by large changes in humidity and temperature, when transitioning between indoors and outdoors . In temperate climates, that step is largest in the winter .