Winter Diseases… Why Are They Affecting Us in the Summer?
Health experts have highlighted the reason why many of us are contracting “winter diseases” amid a heatwave this summer, with a range of viruses, including new Covid variants, summer colds, and the flu, sweeping across various countries.
According to the British newspaper “Mirror,” the number of Britons admitted to hospital due to Covid has doubled since April.
The latest statistics from the UK’s Health Security Agency reveal a 4.5% increase in Covid cases in England, a 9% to 20% rise in Covid deaths, and a 2.2% increase in the number of patients hospitalized due to Covid.
In addition to Covid, Professor Jonathan Ball from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine suggests that “lockdowns during the pandemic likely disrupted the usual pattern of illness – people typically catch colds and flu in the winter and feel healthy in the summer.”
Since people were in lockdown, they didn’t catch the usual viruses, leading to an increase in new cases when restrictions were lifted during the warmer months. This pattern may be continuing. Professor Ball said, “It seems that this has displaced the seasonality, especially of cold viruses, from the status quo, so they are appearing at odd times, and I don’t think things have settled down yet.”
The current rise in whooping cough cases might be related to lockdown measures. Typically, outbreaks occur every five years, but the last outbreak was supposed to happen during lockdown and didn’t. Now, it seems to have returned strongly, causing many to suffer from “the 100-day cough.”
Professor Sheena Cruickshank from the University of Manchester suggests that long Covid might also be contributing to the increase; it’s estimated that two million people suffer from the long-term effects of a previous Covid infection, including weakened immune systems.
Hay fever might also play a role; the Met Office warns that due to climate change, the pollen dispersal season could be longer and more intense. However, Professor Ball believes that people may have become more aware of feeling ill due to our experience with Covid over the past few years.
-
These few signs on your health show that you lack vitamin D
-
Seven vitamin D-rich foods to improve cognitive function
He said, “People have become more aware of colds and things that they would probably have ignored pre-Covid-19.”
