Seasonality of Viral Infections

Written by Jeff Green - 01/24/2023

Seasonality of Viral Infections

Below, I quote from an interesting study that lends more weight and credibility to my writings on viruses and their relation to weather. However, the reader must read between the lines and understand that the writers of the study (like most other such studies) are coming from a place of ignorance with regard to the true causes of viral illness. It is frustrating to see someone so close, yet so far away.

Below, I have quoted what I deem the most relevant points.

"The seasonal cycle of respiratory viral diseases has been widely recognized for thousands of years, as annual epidemics of the common cold and influenza disease hit the human population like clockwork in the winter season in temperate regions. Moreover, epidemics caused by viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 occur during the winter months. The mechanisms underlying the seasonal nature of respiratory viral infections have been examined and debated for many years. The two major contributing factors are the changes in environmental parameters and human behavior."

"One of the earliest accounts of the winter epidemic of respiratory infectious disease can be found in the “Book of Epidemics,” an ancient Greek record written by Hippocrates around 400 BC."

"Accumulating studies point to possible seasonal determinants in the epidemics of respiratory viruses as well as host factors affected by these contributing factors. These include seasonal changes in temperature, absolute humidity (AH), sunlight, vitamin status, and host behavior. These proposed factors can be classified as seasonal changes of environment, human behavioral patterns, and viral factors."

"Among potential drivers of seasonality, fluctuation of temperature and AH throughout the year has been proposed as a critical factor in the seasonal increase in respiratory virus infections, especially in the context of the epidemics in the winter season."

"The corollary implication is that indoor climate and air change rates, modulated by outdoor seasonal conditions, are the key drivers of seasonal patterns in epidemiology. In addition, exposure to outdoor conditions (albeit 10% of lifetime) contributes to alteration of respiratory defense on the existing virome."

"The airways have a type I mucosal surface, which is covered by a single-layer epithelial lining to perform respiratory functions. The airway epithelial layer serves as the second line of defense after the mucus layer to provide a physical barrier within the respiratory tract."

"Inhaling dry air causes immediate airway epithelial cilia loss, detachment of epithelial cells, and inflammation of the trachea of guinea pigs. Moreover, dry air exposure of mice impairs epithelial cell repair in the lung after influenza virus infection. Disruption of airway epithelial integrity caused by inhalation of dry air might be involved in the winter epidemics of certain types of respiratory virus infections."

"By virtue of being exposed to ambient air by breathing, the nasal and tracheal mucosal surface of the respiratory tract is affected by ambient temperature and the water content of the inhaled air. Inhalation of dry air causes epithelial damage, MCC impairment, and increased mucin production."

"The animal studies demonstrate a dramatic effect of environmental conditions on every aspect of host response to respiratory infection and disease. The intervention studies in school and nursery children, office workers, and army recruits have shown that increasing humidity from low to median range reduced respiratory infection rates and absenteeism."


Source: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-virology-012420-022445

---

Closing words:

Viruses, among bacteria, parasites, and fungi, will manifest in accordance with both climate and bodily conditions. Humidity and barometric pressure, in combination with temperature, all play a role in their appearance, just as trees blossom in accordance with seasonal changes, so too does the body function. Cellular detoxification pathways open, and cells dump toxins when external (climate) and internal factors (condition of the tissue) coalesce.

Dry air, such as overly dry heated homes during winter, causes damage and loss to delicate cilia lining the lungs, leading to more severe outcomes in those developing viral respiratory detoxification. In many cases, damage to cilia and surrounding lung tissue due to airborne toxins leads to viral detoxification itself. Then, with reduced protection in the lungs and airways, the problem continues to go in circles.

Respiratory viral detoxifications, in particular, appear more commonly in winter months due to a drop in temperature, in combination with humidity decreasing outdoors, and decreasing indoors due to central heating, which imbalances the body, drying tissue. As well, seasonal changes, especially those that are more rapid, can impact cellular actions by increasing cellular bloating due to humidity changes. This incurs cell detoxification, or cell lysis—that is, unhealthy cells rupturing to release pressure and thus releasing most cell toxin accumulations into extracellular fluid. This seems to appear more commonly in the lungs, which are primarily affected by such climate changes.

The study makes an important note (see below) to point out that modern society now works and lives indoors all year around anyway, not merely in winter months. Therefore, if the cause of viral illness was due to transmission, there should be massive outbreaks of viral illness all year round and not primarily in winter months. We must not divorce ourselves from the natural world, or the body suffers. We must be like a piece of wood that changes with the weather. Living in unnatural environments contributes heavily to disease because it reduces bodily strength and lowers protection from modern toxicity.

"The term seasonal infection associates a specific infection with a distinct season of the year. Consequently, the perceived relationship between infections and seasonal climate is considered to be causal. This was accurate to some extent when humans lived and worked outdoors with minimal protection from even the most severe climate conditions. The industrial revolutions changed all this. Outdoor agricultural workplaces were relocated into factories and offices, moving human lifestyle away from nature and outdoor climate. With the widespread introduction of central heating and increasingly airtight, insulated building shells, a consistent thermal comfort zone could be maintained indoors, causing even further disconnection from daily and seasonal outdoor climate fluctuations. This disconnection is particularly evident in winter, when indoor heating causes a major divergence of indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity (RH) but does not affect AH.”

"In the industrialized world, most people interact, work, sleep, commute, and spend 90% of their lifetime in enclosed spaces, where they share a limited amount of breathing air.”

---

You can read further on the subject of proving the true nature of viruses and disease below:

Science Confirms My Writings on Viruses

Jeff Green

www.virusesarenotcontagious.com