Link Between Humidity Levels, Flu Transm
Study Finds Link Between Humidity Levels, Flu Transmission
CORVALLIS, Ore.—Flu viruses survive longer and are more easily transmitted when humidity levels are low, such as in the peak flu months of January and February, Oregon State University researchers found in a new study. In the study, the OSU team reanalyzed data from a 2007 Mount Sinai School of Medicine study that identified a weak relationship between flu transmission and relative humidity. The reanalysis revealed a strong link between absolute humidity and flu virus survival and transmission. “The correlations were surprisingly strong. When absolute humidity is low, influenza virus survival is prolonged, and transmission rates go up,” said study author Jeffrey Shaman. The report is published in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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hmmm .. would have thought the opposite .. what's absolute humidity?
Dew point.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
The Specific Humidity, Humidity Ratio or Abosulte Humidity is the amount of moisture a pound of air contains, usually expressed as grains per puond of dry air. Dewpoint Temperature is an alternateive expression of the absolute humidity, as Dan correctly pointed out.
Unlike relative humidity, which as the name implies is relative to saturation, this quality of air is unaffected by sensible temperature.