Viruses are more dangerous when they infect their victims early in the morning, a University of Cambridge study suggests.
The findings, published in PNAS, showed viruses were 10 times more successful if the infection started in the morning, reports the BBC.
The animal studies also found that a disrupted body clock - caused by shift-work or jet lag - was always vulnerable to infection.
The researchers say the findings could lead to new ways of stopping pandemics.
Viruses - unlike bacteria or parasites - are completely dependent on hijacking the machinery inside cells in order to replicate.
But those cells change dramatically as part of a 24-hour pattern known as the body clock.
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