A study suggests that climate change is affecting the flu virus.
Although our winters are warmer due to the change in climate, scientists believe that this is simply shifting the flu season to an alternative time of year. The study conducted by researchers at Arizona State University in the US say the season now starts earlier, lasts longer and produces a more virulent strain of the virus. So instead of starting in winter, the virus is now opting for spring or autumn according to their mathematical link between annual climate patterns and epidemics in the US.
The university’s Mathematical, Computational and Modelling Sciences department suggests that part of the problem is that people are less likely to protect themselves in milder weather by having the flu jab and are therefore more susceptible in the weeks after winter.