Why the Flu Prefers Winter

For decades, scientists have understood that winter is flu season, but neither they, nor anyone else, really knew why. Now they do. Geezer will cut straight to the chase: flu viruses spend much of their sadly limited lives floating in the air inside little respiratory droplets. When the air is humid, as it is in warm weather, those droplets absorb water, become heavier
and fall to the ground, where the viruses can do little harm. But when the air dry, as it is in cold weather, the viruses linger in the air, waiting to land upon an unsuspecting host, such as yourself, or worse, Geezer.
The New York Times reports on the research that led to the revelation, which includes some yet unexplained evidence that infected animals released viruses longer in cold weather than in warm weather: nearly two days longer at 41 degrees than at a typical room temperature of 68 degrees. Not sure what’s up with that.
Read more in the New York Times.