All That You Need to Know About Weather Change Sickness

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the sudden exposure to hot or cold weather that puts you under the weather. Exposure to bacteria or viruses is what gets you to fall sick. Changes in humidity cause your immune system to weaken. This renders you more susceptible to the germs and viruses that you may encounter. The likelihood of falling sick increases with the weakening of your immune system. Read on to know a lot more on weather change sickness.

Three Main Factors behind Weather Change Sickness

The susceptibility to changes in humidity with weather is attributed to three primary factors:

1. Drier air: It dries out the mucous membranes and cracks develop in them. This allows viruses an easy access and settlement into our bodies. 
2. Cold: With cooler temperatures, our immune system weakens, leaving us more susceptible to infections.
3. Exposure: With temperatures getting lower, we tend to be indoors for longer periods with people around us. There are more germs indoors and ventilation is low, with most doors and windows shut to keep the cold out. Viruses generally are at their peak in winter, especially the ones that cause influenza. The setting is ideal for the breeding of viruses and infection spreading from ones who may already be carrying an infection.

Why Does Your Immune System Weaken in Winter?

Several factors contribute to the weakening of your immune system in colder conditions. Here are some of them.

1. Vitamin D deficiency or lower levels: The sun is the source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is vital for helping you maintain a strong immune system. Winter, with its corresponding shorter days, reduces your exposure to the sun.  The shorter exposure to the sun lowers your levels of vitamin D, affecting your immunity.
2. More time indoors: With more time spent indoors during winter months, people are in proximity to more people in an enclosed environment. The viruses have a higher chance of spreading and infecting.
3.  Lower temperatures: Immune response to rhinovirus in the cells in your airways have been shown to decrease in colder temperatures in a study. At temperatures below 37°C, Rhinoviruses are likely to replicate more efficiently. In cold weather, the temperature inside your nasal cavity is about 33°C.  This is an ideal breeding ground for rhinoviruses.
4. Blood vessel narrowing: Blood vessels in the upper respiratory tract narrow down to conserve heat when you draw in cold and dry air. In the narrowed blood vessels, white blood cells (WBCs) encounter difficulty in reaching the mucous membrane. This makes it harder for your body to fight off germs.

Sickness in Summers

Summers and hot weather have their share of weather change sicknesses too. It is just that the virus causing sickness changes from winter to summer. 

Influenza, Rhinovirus, Respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) and Rotavirus are a few viruses that are active in the winter season. The winter rhinovirus commonly causes common cold and upper respiratory tract infection.  In adults, the rhinovirus generally does not cause fever.

Enteroviruses are mostly active during summer season and lays you low with a sore throat, runny nose, and stomach ailments. The summer enterovirus attack is however often associated with sudden, and at times, high fever.

Summer colds spread through contact with germs from an infected person’s body fluids, such as their saliva, mucous, or faeces. This translates to the risk of viruses that cause summer colds spreading more easily in crowded places. You invariably tend to spend more time at public places like water parks, amusement parks, outdoor gatherings, etc.   

Symptoms of Weather Change Sickness

Let us start with the summer weather change sickness symptoms. Many people will insist that summer colds are worse and take longer to go away than winter colds. There is however no scientific study or evidence in support of this claim.

The most common summer cold symptoms include:

1. Runny nose
2. Congestion
3. Headache
4. Sore throat
5. Cough
6. Muscle ache
7. Sneezing
8. Pressure in the sinuses and/or head
9. Low energy

Additionally, enteroviruses may sometimes cause other illnesses with different symptoms. These include:

1. Herpangina, evidenced through small blisters on the mouth and throat, often associated with sudden bouts of fever
2. Hand, foot, and mouth disease  displaying symptoms similar to herpangina, differentiated by the blisters that are also on the hands and feet. You may also have symptoms akin to influenza.
3. Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis, causing swelling and redness in one or both eyes
4. Serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses such as meningitis and myocarditis are also known to be caused by the enterovirus on rare occasions.

You know a winter cold through typical symptoms like:

1. Runny or stuffy nose
2. Sore throat
3. Cough
4. Congestion
5. Slight body aches or a mild headache
6. Sneezing
7. Low-grade fever
8. General feeling of being unwell

Remedies and Treatment for Weather Change Sickness

In general, increasing and bolstering your body’s immune system is the core of treatment for weather change sickness. Here’s what you can do:

1. Take vitamin D supplements
2. Eat foods that are high in vitamin D content like fatty fish, mushrooms, and eggs 
3. Get plenty of rest or sleep
4. Stay hydrated with a higher intake of water, an occasional sports drink, and fresh fruit juice or coconut water for electrolyte input
5. Maintain good hygiene – wash your hands regularly and sneeze or cough into a clean tissue
6. Avoid sharing food, drinks, crockery, and utensils with people who have a cold or the flu
7. Get a flu vaccine
8. Run a humidifier and air purifier indoors

Treatment for weather change sickness may be restricted to over-the-counter medications like antihistamines, decongestants, cough suppressants, and fever reducers that help to relieve symptoms.

Conclusion 

With the world going through unprecedented upheaval in climatic conditions, there are visible shifts in patterns of weather across countries. Climate change sickness and disruptions in weather patterns are affecting our well-being. Increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease, injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events, food- and water-borne illnesses, and other infectious diseases, and threats to mental health are all attributed to climate change.

Scientists have attributed the outbreak of Ebola disease, SARS, H5N1 avian flu and the H1N1 flu as climate change sicknesses.

The Coronavirus pandemic has taught us the value of personal hygiene and prevention. Let us carry forward this learning to practice prevention as the best protection from weather change and climate change sicknesses.