Relationship Between Cold and Flu
In a new study, researchers from the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research have discovered an individual cannot suffer from cold and flu simultaneously.
Scientists concluded this form the new study that analyzed viral test results of more than 44,000 individuals in Glasgow, Scotland, between 2005 & 2013. Dr. Pablo Murcia from the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research said that the flu virus and the rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, interact negatively.
He added that the finding might explain why colds and flu tend to have different seasonal peaks, which are repeated each year statistically.
Relationship Between Cold and Flu- Results of the Study
Sema Nickbakhsh, a postdoctoral research associate at Glasgow University’s Centre for Virus Research, said the team noticed that rhinovirus declines at the time that flu peaks each winter. In contrast, the rhinovirus peaks in the spring and autumn when flu declines.
According to Nickbakhsh, an individual can have simultaneous viral infections, but only one virus takes hold to the extent that it triggers our immune system.
Each person in the study was tested for eleven different cold & flu viruses, thus allowing scientists to show the association
occurred on both an individual host level & the broader population level as well.Interestingly, a person can become a carrier for a particular virus without showing any symptoms of the viral infection, Schaffner explained, which can lead to some disturbing, but common, scenarios.
Relationship Between Cold and Flu Needs More Research
The Glasgow study found several viruses that had both negative and positive impacts on each other, but only at the broader population level. The reason behind such phenomena is still unclear.
Cooperative relationships are a confirmed phenomenon between viruses and bacteria. For example, it is a known fact that Flu enhances a person’s susceptibility to pneumococcal bacteria. Scientists are not sure about the cause of this in viruses.