Why do we seem to get sick more often in winter?

BOSTON - Cold and flu season is upon us, but germs that cause colds are in the air year-round. So, why do we seem to get sick more in winter?

We've always thought that people were more likely to get sick in the wintertime because the cold weather forces us inside where we're more likely to exchange germs. But the fault may rest instead in the nose, which is one of the first points of contact between the outside environment and inside the body.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear have newly discovered an immune response inside the nose that fights off viruses responsible for upper respiratory infections, like the common cold, the flu, and COVID-19.

But reducing the temperature in the nose by as little as nine degrees cut its germ-fighting response by almost half.

So now they want to figure out how to bolster the immune response, with a nasal spray, for example, to reduce the risk of infection as temperatures drop. 

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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