Winter always comes with the warning to wrap up warm to avoid getting a cold as temperatures drop. 

But now, Scientists have revealed the real reason why colds seem to spike in the winter months. 

A recent study suggests that the newly discovered immune response inside the nose is stopped by colder temperatures.

This means that the upper respiratory tract (nose, mouth and throat) is the primary way people get infected through either inhaling the bug or depositing it with their hands.

The new research comes in a bid to find the first biological evidence for why respiratory illnesses like colds, flu and Covid-19 are more likely to spike when the temperature drops.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

The research comes from the researchers at Mass Eye and Ear hospital and Northeastern University in America who discovered the previously unknown immune response inside the nose that fights viruses. 

However, the researchers were able to discover that the nose-fighting response becomes blocked in the cold which allows viruses to spike. 

Benjamin Bleier, director of Otolaryngology Translational Research at Mass Eye and Ear and senior author of the study, said: “Conventionally, it was thought that cold and flu season occurred in cooler months because people are stuck indoors more where airborne viruses could spread more easily.

“Our study however points to a biological root cause for the seasonal variation in upper respiratory viral infections we see each year, most recently demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Back in 2018 a study led by Dr Bleier and Mansoor Amiji, Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, uncovered an innate immune response triggered when bacteria is inhaled through the nose.

But now with the new research, scientists hope they will be to make the nose's immune system stronger during the colder months. 

There are plans for medication that can induce and strengthen the nose’s innate immune response, such as a nasal spray that could be designed to increase the number of EVs in the nose.

The new study is published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.