And the animal studies found that a disrupted body clock – caused by shift-work or jet lag – was always vulnerable to infection.
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“When you disrupt the clockwork, then your clock is in no-man’s land”, Reddy, a clinical studies fellow at the University of Cambridge and a professor of experimental neurology, said during a phone interview.
A University of Cambridge study has found that viruses can be up to 10 times more risky if they infect patients in the morning, suggesting that it might be a whole lot safer to just stay in bed.
Viruses are extra harmful once they infect their victims within the morning, a College of Cambridge research suggests.
“The time of day of infection can have a major influence on how susceptible we are to the disease, or at least on the viral replication”.
The reason for this is our body clock, which accelerates the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells ten times faster during the morning than by the end of the day.
‘This is consistent with recent studies which have shown that the time of day that the influenza vaccine is administered can influence how effectively it works’.
The resources of cells fluctuate throughout the day, partly in response to our circadian rhythms – our body clock – which controls functions including sleep patterns, body temperature, our immune systems and the release of hormones. Do you think knowing when a viral infection is likely to be more risky in terms of spreading through the body can help in terms of treatment or stopping the spread of illness?
Dr Rachel Edgar, the first author, adds: “Each cell in the body has a biological clock that allows them to keep track of time and anticipate daily changes in our environment”.
According to a report in Live Science, the researchers determined that the difference in infection rates based on when it took place might have something to do with natural circadian rhythms.
Interestingly enough, the study also found that viruses are particularly effective when the mice had their body clocks disrupted.
Viruses have a particular mechanism of infection, which basically means infiltrating inside healthy cells and changing their behaviour for replication purposes. The research focused on one gene affected by the body clock-called Bmal1-which has its peak activity in the afternoon in both mice and humans.
Using cell cultures, the researchers also found that herpes viruses manipulate the molecular “clockwork” that controls our circadian rhythms, helping the viruses to progress.
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Shift workers are known to be more prone to health problems, ranging from infections to chronic diseases.
