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Cases of the flu peak in winter in the U.S. But why? A new study suggests it's not the heat, but the humidity. Or lack thereof. Because in temperate regions, the influenza virus fares best when the weather is dry. That's according to work published in the journal PLoS One.
在冬季，美國的流感病例達到高峰。但是為什么呢？一項新的研究顯示流感爆發與溫度無關，而是與濕度有關。或者說由于缺乏濕度。因為在溫帶地區，流感病毒在天氣干燥時傳播地最厲害。這項研究發表在《公共科學圖書館》期刊上。
Scientists have long debated why flu erupts when the days grow chilly. Is it that we spend more time cooped up together indoors? Or is there something about the virus that likes it cold and dry? To find out, researchers suspended influenza virus in a solution that mimics human mucus. They incubated this infectious soup at different humidities and measured viral survival.
科學家們一直在爭論為什么天氣越冷，流感越容易爆發？是因為我們花更多時間一起呆在室內嗎？還是因為病毒喜歡寒冷和干燥？為了找到答案，研究人員將流感病毒培育在一種類似于人類粘液的容器內。他們在不同濕度的溶液中培育這種病毒，并測量病毒的存活率。
And they found that at low humidity, the fake mucus dries up and the virus does just fine. But when the humidity tops 50%, the droplets only partially evaporate, leaving behind a solution that's too salty for the virus to thrive.
他們發現在低濕度、“類人粘液”干涸后，病毒的確完好。但是當濕度達到50%，只有部分的液滴蒸發，這種溶液因鹽度過大不適于細菌生長。
Interestingly, the virus does well again when the humidity，reaches 100 percent, evaporation stops and the salinity of the mucus bath is just right. That could explain why the flu prefers to hit the tropics in rainy season. And why you should always keep your nose clean, but moist.
有趣的是，當濕度達到100%時，病毒會再次生長，此時溶液不再蒸發，粘液的鹽度也適中。這就能解釋為什么流感傾向于在熱帶地區的雨季爆發。這也是為什么你總是擤鼻涕，卻總也擤不完。
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