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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.
(Score: 3, Funny) by ikanreed on Friday November 04 2016, @03:58PM
That cringe you feel when you hear the word "moist" is keeping you from getting the flu.
Moist.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @04:45PM
Spoken like a true neckbeard, who has never experienced the moister regions of the finer sex.
(Score: 3, Funny) by ikanreed on Friday November 04 2016, @05:20PM
If the most you can manage is "moist" I think you've got bigger problems than beard maintenance.
Or maybe smaller problems.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tbuskey on Friday November 04 2016, @04:16PM
I would not drink water pulled from the air by air conditioners.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday November 04 2016, @07:23PM
And running humidifiers all the time is equally a bad idea unless they get very well cleaned, (which usually doesn't happen as often as t should).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @05:27PM
Here is a link to the paper:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/10/25/1607747113.full [pnas.org]
The bottom line is that flu spreads when temperatures are cold and humidity is low, or when temperatures are high and humidity is high. They also claim that aerosol transmission of flu is blocked at temperatures above 86 F (30 C).
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday November 04 2016, @05:49PM
So in order to fight the flu, let's heat all buildings above that temperature, and in order to not have people overheat due to it, provide pools at the workplace and allow people to wear bathing clothes and make liberal use of the pools. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @06:06PM
Something like that in airplanes and airports would be welcome. Seems every time I take a long-distance trip I get flu for 2 weeks during and after. Sucks after I spent all that money!
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday November 05 2016, @04:50PM
Could be that - but I've had great luck when travveling with two changes: taking immunoboosters starting a few days before the trip, and washing my hands obsessively, and/or otherwise treating them as biohazards. *Way* too many unfamiliar germs in airports, and you can't help getting them on your hands. So- never touch food, drink mouths, or your eyes, nose, or mouth except with freshly cleaned hands. And if you have to open a bathroom door to leave, use the towel you dried your hands with - there's usually a trash can within easy reach to check it in. (And as an added bonus, you'll be cleaning the handle a bit for the next person)
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday November 04 2016, @07:26PM
Blocked might simply be because you can't get any more water vapor than 30g of water vapor / cubic meter suspended in air above 86, because it will rain. So they have no measurements above that level.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @11:48PM
The statement they made is that it is known from other work* that the virus cannot be transmitted as an aerosol above that temperature. This is why the effect of humidity drops to zero at that temperature. They said that for temperatures between 75 F and 85 F, the virus would dry out unless the humidity is high. I didn't dig into the paper far enough to see if the level of humidity that enables transmission at 85 F was near 100% or something lower.
From the paper:
>"In cold environments, the viral envelope is prone to disruption; hence, drier air (low AH) promotes the spread of influenza when temperature is low. In warm environments, the viral envelope is prone to desiccation; hence, wetter air (high AH) promotes the spread of influenza when temperature is high. The EDM analysis suggests that this tradeoff between positive and negative effects happens in the neighborhood of 24 °C (75 °F)."
They also indicated that high humidity at cold temperatures was not as effective in reducing transmission as low humidity is at the higher temperatures.
* >"Lowen AC, Steel J, Mubareka S, Palese P
(2008) High temperature (30 degrees C) blocks aerosol but not contact transmission of influenza virus. J Virol 82(11):5650–5652."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:03PM
so we just need darth vader masks with a heating element in the mouthal region.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @05:57PM
Use humidifiers when it's cold and dry. AC can help when it's hot and humid.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @06:02PM
Sure I'll help - whatever you need. -AC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @06:15PM
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 .
(Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Friday November 04 2016, @07:21PM
Humidity levels above and below the temperature window become a key factor in the spread of the virus.
What exactly does that mean?
Don't worry about humidity within the temperature window?
Reading what passes for TFA suggests temperature has little to do with it, and the flu outbreak seem tied to some absolute humidity levels. (Absolute humidity is the measure of water vapor in the air, regardless of temperature. It is expressed as grams of moisture per cubic meter of air.)
The data to suggest that absolute humidity of 5 to 14 g/m3 is prime flu breeding, and anything more or less (regardless of temperature) limits flu.
Its easy to arrive at that zone in winter. Almost guaranteed not to be in that zone in summer. So humidifiers in winter are called for, but dehumidifiers are probably not needed.
(The maximum absolute humidity of warm air at 30°C/86°F is approximately 30g of water vapor. )
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.