Winter Flus Blues

So I wasn’t just being feeble, going down with flu a few weeks back. A study shows that the flu virus thrives in cold climates and dies out the nearer you get to the equator where temperatures get nice and hot and humid. The New York Times reports:

“Flu viruses are more stable in cold air, and low humidity also helps the virus particles remain in the air. That is because the viruses float in the air in little respiratory droplets, Dr. Palese said. When the air is humid, those droplets pick up water, grow larger and fall to the ground.”

But before we all up sticks and rush south for the winter, it’s worth remembering that in the tropics, you may not find the flu virus but there are all kinds of other grim illnesses you can get - malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever are some that come to mind.

I was reminded of a bout of fluey-type exhaustion that I experienced in my late teens while I was at Uni in the UK. I went off to the doctor who tested me for glandular fever, also known as the “kissing illness” for its prevalence among college students in the West. It came back negative and my symptoms continued to be a mystery. During the summer vacation, I headed back to Malaysia for the holidays and my parents took me off to a doctor in Kuala Lumpur. This time, they tested me for tuberculosis. I was un-nerved as TB in my mind is a pretty serious, nasty illness that killed off loads of poetic, sensitive types in English literature. But the tests also came back negative, much to our relief! In the end, the symptoms passed and I was restored to full health after some rest and relaxation at home. To this day, we don’t know what it was. But looking back on that time, what is interesting is that the different doctors tested me for wildly different illnesses, based on what would have been the most likely given their location.

It must be tough being a doctor these days in the age of global travel. It seems to me you’d have to know not just about illness that are prevalent in your locality but also about illnesses from the far corners of the earth!

Pic of John Keats: thanks to users.dickinson.edu