If you look at the evidence to date from a different perspective, a virologist at St George's Hospital, University of London in the UK believes it suggests the sun's UV rays inactivate the chickenpox virus on the skin before it has a chance to transmit to another person, thus explaining why the disease spreads less readily in tropical countries. Dr Phil Rice told the press last week he hopes his findings will lead to new ways to prevent chickenpox and its more severe cousin, shingles.
The idea that ultraviolet (UV) rays can inactivate viruses is not new, but this is the first time that such firm conclusions have been made in connection with the varicella-zoster virus, the herpes virus responsible for chickenpox and shingles.
Writing about his work earlier this year in Virology Journal, Rice shows how chickenpox is much less common in parts of the world with high levels of UV rays compared with places where the levels are low, and why in temperate zones, the disease peaks in winter and spring, when UV rays are at their lowest.
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