【推荐1】Viruses are biological zombies (僵尸). They have one mission: to find a host and use it to produce masses of copies. They reproduce by taking control of the host’s cells, eventually causing them to burst and die. That’s why viruses that infect humans nearly always cause illness.     1    

◆     2    

There’s a popular myth that once you’ve had a virus, you’re immune to it, but that’s not always the case. When you get a virus, your body builds up antibodies to fight it.     3     However, not everyone makes enough antibodies, and they can wear off over time, which is why you need several shots of some vaccines (疫苗).

◆You can be infectious without ever showing symptoms.

Some viruses, including those that cause herpes and AIDS, can be spread via a symptomatic people who never had signs of the illness or don’t have symptoms yet. Some people may even be “super spreaders,” infecting dozens to hundreds of other people without even realizing it.     4    

◆If you’re very overweight, you need to be extra cautious.

Overweight people are infectious with the flu virus 42 percent larger than those who aren’t overweight.     5     Extra weight may make the flu shot less effective too.

【推荐2】This very special little boy has yet won another challenge with amazing strength. The child hero Super Chico is back in action against the enemy. The boy, who has several serious diseases, caught COVID-19 for the second time and once again defeated the disease.

It started in November 2021 with the signs we all know; coughing and difficulty breathing. The 5-year-old had to be hospitalized.

“This time it was worse, because the other time (in July 2020, when Chico first caught the virus) he had progressive improvement. Every day there was good news. This time it wasn’t like that,” Chico’s mother said.

But Chico is a fighter. He began to improve after 15 days on special treatment. The nurse who stayed with him in the ICU told touching details of that moment.

“When he was waking up, his mother said, ‘Come back, Chico, get your backpack and let’s go.’ He laughed, and tried to wake up. It’s a moment you can’t forget.”

The little boy left the hospital wearing superhero clothes, receiving much applause (掌声) from the healthcare team. On Instagram, his mother gave the good news of his leaving the hospital and thanked everyone for their prayers for the little Brazilian who has attracted everyone with his example of strength and hope.

Super Chico was born prematurely (早产), and spent six months in the ICU for newborns. It was there that he earned his heroic nickname (外号). After that, he faced seven operations to treat several problems. He was hospitalized more than 10 times and underwent several blood transfusions. In 2020, he caught the coronavirus for the first time, spending four months in the children’s sickroom and 13 days in the ICU of a hospital in Bauru, in the state of Sto Paulo, where he lives.

His example of strength has inspired many parents. For this reason, the little fighter became a phenomenon on the Internet. Today, the website managed by his mother has more than 240,000 followers on Instagram.

【推荐3】Winter’s first chill may bring an unwelcome guest: flu outbreaks, a new study says. Researchers looked at data on weather and flu cases in Gothenburg, Sweden, and found that flu outbreaks occurred about one week after the first appearance of cold weather and low humidity (湿度).

“According to our calculations, a cold week with an average temperature below 0°C suggests the start of the flu outbreaks,” said study researcher Nicklas Sundell. He’s an infectious diseases specialist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, which belongs to the University of Gothenburg.

“We believe that this sudden drop in temperature contributes to 5 ‘kick-start’ epidemic (流行病). Once the epidemic has started, it continues even if temperatures rise. Once people are sick, many more may become infected,” Sundell said in a university news release.

The findings support the theory that aerosol particles (雾气粒子) containing flu viruses and liquid spread more easily in cold and dry weather. In northern regions of the world, cold weather is likely a more important factor in flu outbreaks than people crowding indoors during the winter, according to Sundell. “But cold weather isn’t the only contributing factor. The virus has to be present among the population and there have to be enough people susceptible to the infection,” he said.

“If you can predict the start of the annual epidemics of the flu and other respiratory viruses, you can use this knowledge to promote campaigns for the flu vaccine and prepare emergency wards and hospital staff in advance for an increased number of patients seeking care,” Sundell said. He added that the recommendations to try to prevent the flu are the same as in previous years. Get a flu vaccine and remember to wash your hands.

【推荐1】An Indian man recently shocked the airport staff in Abu Dhabi, because his passport showed he was born in 1896, which would make him 123, the oldest man to have ever lived.

Swami Sivananda’s passport shows him to be a year older than France’s Jeanne Louise Calment, who holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest person in history —122— but the problem is that the only evidence he has comes from an old temple register. Furthermore, he looks decades younger than his alleged age and has good health. He’s been trying to have his name included in the Guinness Book of Records for three years, but he has been having trouble proving his age.

Allegedly born on August 8, 1896, in Behala, then a village, Sivananda says he lost both his parents when he was only four, and his sister, who used to beg for food with him, two years later. His relatives handed him over to a guru (宗教教师), who brought him to the city of Nadadwip. Later, he settled in Varanasi. Sadly, there was no formal record of his age in these places and Swami Sivananda can only rely on a temple register to prove that he really is 123 years old.

“I lead a simple and regular life. I eat very simply — boiled food without oil, rice and boiled soup. I avoid taking milk or meat because I think these are fancy. In my childhood I slept many days on an empty stomach,” said Sivananda. “I believe in eating simply, living modestly and being merciful. I feel good when I have tried my best to help those in need.”

【推荐3】For those in search of safe, non-medicine sleep aids (助手), sound machines are a popular choice. The National Sleep Foundation recently found that 5% of Americans sleep with a “sound conditioner”. It can be a fan, phone app, or other noise-producing machines.

Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, says a sound conditioner is a lifesaver if you live where loud nighttime noise is common. But even if your bedroom is very quiet, sound machines can still be helpful if you’re the type of person unsettled by a total absence of noise, or if you’re a light sleeper who wakes from even the softest sound.

Research supports the idea that a little background sound can help people fall asleep. For a study in the journal Sleep Medicine, the researchers asked sleepers to listen to recorded hospital sounds either with or without a white noise machine. They found that those who slept with the white noise machine were hardly affected by the hospital sounds, while others who slept without white noise were easily awakened.

There’s also so-called “pink noise” and “brown noise”, which can sound similar to white noise. “I don’t think there’s enough evidence yet to say one type is better than another,” says Michelle Drerup, a sleep psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “I know from talking with my patients that some people prefer natural sounds, like a rainstorm. But others don’t want a sound at all when they sleep,” she says. “It all comes down to the individual (个人).”

For some, the best sound might be none. “Biologically (生物学上), you don’t need this sound to sleep,” says Michael Grandner, “and if you use it every night, you can get so used to it that you can’t sleep without it.” Most sleep experts agree. “I wouldn’t suggest people use sound machines to sleep unless they’re reporting difficulties with outside noises,” an expert says.