You may have heard the notion that a fever is just your body fighting an infection, so once it passes, you’ll feel better.
Apparently the weather, when warm, could also kill viruses such as the coronavirus, at least according to some health experts.
In a commentary on Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Dr Jyoti Somani and Professor Paul Tambyah purport that China’s impending warm weather in May may bode well for our fight against the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
Comparing with the common flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the pair deduced how the novel coronavirus is likely seasonal too.
As such, infections may decrease as temperatures in China soar in May, reducing the number of cases.
The doctors told CNA that like the flu, the 2019-nCoV largely spreads “by large droplets of saliva or phlegm from one person to another…or by contact”.
They cited studies which explain how the droplets spread further in cold and dry air.
From there, they extrapolate that warmer temperature and higher humidity could threaten the survival of the virus.
How is the coronavirus still spreading in Singapore with our hot and humid weather, you may ask?
Well, the doctors claim that back in 2003, SARS spread extensively in Hong Kong and Singapore because of our “intensive use of air-conditioning”.
Considering how the Wuhan coronavirus cases so far have surfaced in enclosed, air-conditioned spaces like hotels, shops, and airplanes, their reasoning seems feasible.
As encouraging as their suppositions may be, they are still only guesses.
According to CNA, SARS’ disappearance coincided with the northern summer of 2003, after which the virus never resurfaced as strongly.
By this reference alone, we’re hopeful the same will happen with the 2019-nCoV.
Sadly, May is still about three months away, so the waiting time is a little long. Let’s hope researchers can find a cure till then, so we can stop the virus once and for all.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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