I have a pet theory on air humidity and flu or cold. Apparently the scientific consensus is that cold and flu are more prevalent in drier air. However, I see an uptick in both when the temperature is low, but the humidity is 90+%. It is purely anecdotal, but there you go.
colder air tends to be drier, because theres little to no evaporation, plus you also stop sweating which is another factor. atopic dermatitis is pretty bad during late winter and when it ends. cold temperature also constricts your bronchial tubes slightly too, if you allergies, or ashtmatic its worst, so that induces coughing more. warm temperature would cause your lungs/tubes to dilate so to allow more air in. also the fact that allergies, cold/flu and even covid causes your lung to produce thick sputum which triggers the cough response.
normal sputum from allergie sis clear. while infections is thick and white, or yellow midly brown, sometimes tinge of blood. alot of green means it could be bacterial pneumonia.
In addition to what the other commenter said, when the outside is cold and 95% humid, the inside of a building would be warm and far drier. So the inside humidity % is much lower than 95%. Maybe this contributes to the issue?
You might actually both be saying the same thing here. Caveat being that I have no idea what the science says about cold/flu, but when talking about humidity when the air is colder it is drier. 90% humidity at 35F is not the same as 90% at 85F. As the air cools it is able to hold less moisture. So your observation that there’s an uptick during colder weather at a higher relative humidity could be the same as saying it’s more likely in drier air, because the air is drier when it’s cold, even when the relative humidity shows the same percentage.
I have a pet theory on air humidity and flu or cold. Apparently the scientific consensus is that cold and flu are more prevalent in drier air. However, I see an uptick in both when the temperature is low, but the humidity is 90+%. It is purely anecdotal, but there you go.
colder air tends to be drier, because theres little to no evaporation, plus you also stop sweating which is another factor. atopic dermatitis is pretty bad during late winter and when it ends. cold temperature also constricts your bronchial tubes slightly too, if you allergies, or ashtmatic its worst, so that induces coughing more. warm temperature would cause your lungs/tubes to dilate so to allow more air in. also the fact that allergies, cold/flu and even covid causes your lung to produce thick sputum which triggers the cough response.
normal sputum from allergie sis clear. while infections is thick and white, or yellow midly brown, sometimes tinge of blood. alot of green means it could be bacterial pneumonia.
In addition to what the other commenter said, when the outside is cold and 95% humid, the inside of a building would be warm and far drier. So the inside humidity % is much lower than 95%. Maybe this contributes to the issue?
You might actually both be saying the same thing here. Caveat being that I have no idea what the science says about cold/flu, but when talking about humidity when the air is colder it is drier. 90% humidity at 35F is not the same as 90% at 85F. As the air cools it is able to hold less moisture. So your observation that there’s an uptick during colder weather at a higher relative humidity could be the same as saying it’s more likely in drier air, because the air is drier when it’s cold, even when the relative humidity shows the same percentage.