Does cold weather cause colds?

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1. 1

   KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF DOCTORS AGAINST COMMON COLD AND ITS MANAGEMENT

   Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (Butt)Published Nov 8, 2019Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “Twenty one percent of the doctors prescribe antibiotics for common cold. 43 (43%) doctors correctly answered that mean incubation duration for common cold is 1–2 days. Seventy three (73%) responded correctly that cold weather enhance susceptibility to common cold.48 (48%) responded right by opting that regular frequent hand-washing habit with good quality soaps is the most effective method to prevent spread of this disease in day-to-day life. Antibiotics are being prescribed for treatment of common cold by a large proportion of doctors. There is insufficient knowledge among health care providers which is one of factors aggravate or alleviate common cold symptoms as well as the methodology by which these infections can be prevented. Keywords: Antibiotics; Antimicrobial Resistance; Common Cold; Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs); Viruses.”

2. 2

   Environmental Conditions Affect Exhalation of H3N2 Seasonal and Variant Influenza Viruses and Respiratory Droplet Transmission in Ferrets

   PLoS ONE (Gustin et al.)Published May 13, 2015Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “Comparisons were made among the different temperature and humidity conditions and between the two viruses to determine if the H3N2 variant virus exhibited enhanced capabilities that may have contributed to the infections occurring in the summer. We report here that although increased levels of H3N2 variant virus were found in ferret nasal wash and exhaled aerosol samples compared to the seasonal H3N2 virus, enhanced respiratory droplet transmission was not observed under any of the environmental settings. However, overall environmental conditions were shown to modulate the frequency of influenza virus transmission through the air. Transmission occurred most frequently at 23°C/30%RH, while the levels of infectious virus in aerosols exhaled by infected ferrets agree with these results. Improving our understanding of how environmental conditions affect influenza virus infectivity and transmission may reveal ways to better protect the public against influenza virus infections.”

3. 3

   The impact of climate change on airborne and droplet-borne diseases and hospital response measures.

   Frontiers in public health (Huang et al.)Published Sep 4, 2026Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “Flood exposure increases respiratory hospitalization risk by 30% and infectious disease hospitalization risk by 26%, with burdens persisting for 60-90 days. Heat exposure increases COPD risk by 1.47% for every 1 °C above thermal thresholds. Mechanistically, low humidity favors persistent airborne droplet nuclei, whereas high humidity enhances transmission via larger droplets that require close contact. Current hospital infrastructure remains vulnerable to these compound climate-pollution crises.ConclusionConventional acute-phase disaster models are insufficient. Resilience requires a paradigm shift toward "climate-integrated" infection control. Critical strategies include integrating meteorological data into predictive surveillance systems and using ventilation, upper-room UVGI, and portable air cleaning as complementary engineering controls.”