Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Why you always get sick in the winter

Plus more health news |

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The (other) reason you are more likely to get sick in winter
By Jamie Ducharme
Health Correspondent

If you haven’t gotten sick this season, consider yourself lucky. Millions of people across the country have already come down with COVID-19, influenza, or RSV—and it’s only early December.

There are lots of reasons why winter becomes a contagion fest (more time spent indoors and abundant holiday gatherings, to name a couple). Now, new research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology points to another: the body’s immune defenses don’t work as well when it’s cold outside.

Your nose is built to keep out invaders like viruses and bacteria. If a pathogen tries to enter, it releases a swarm of tiny, fluid-filled sacs meant to attack the intruder. But, as the authors of the new study found, that response is blunted in cold weather, meaning viruses are more likely to bypass the nose’s defenses, get inside your body, and make you sick.

With viruses spreading like wildfire and temperatures dropping, you may want to double down on masking this winter. Your immune system could use the help.

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What else to read
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Column: Universal Masking in School Works. New Data Shows How Well
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One Last Read
An impending COVID-19 financial crisis

With federal funds for the country's pandemic response running low and Republicans resistant to approving more, uninsured Americans may soon find COVID-19 treatments and vaccines out of their reach, the New York Times reports. Making matters worse, if manufacturers are allowed to sell COVID-19 drugs and shots commercially next year, prices are expected to go up.

Read More »

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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and Lori Fradkin and was edited by Elijah Wolfson.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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