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London - It will come as little surprise to any man who has wept and wailed his way through a cold - or any woman who has had to nurse him.

Man flu really does exist, research has found.

According to an Australian study, women have a "much stronger immune response" to bugs that cause colds and flu.

This means the fairer sex are better at fighting off coughs and sneezes, while their partners are more likely to be laid low by the same germs.

But these differences disappear after the menopause, suggesting that they are regulated by female sex hormones.

Lead researcher Professor John Upham, from the University of Queensland, tested the immune responses of 63 healthy volunteers. He said: "Hormones obviously play a huge part in helping fight viruses.

"And it makes sense from a biological point of view because women are more likely to ensure the survival of a species."

The team, from the University of Queensland, published their findings after lab tests to examine the immune responses of 63 healthy volunteers.

In a report for the journal Respiratory Research, they concluded: "This study suggests that pre-menopausal women have a stronger adaptive immune response to rhinovirus infection than men and older people, though the mechanisms responsible for these differences remain to be determined.

"Our findings highlight the importance of gender and age balance in clinical studies and in the development of new treatments and vaccines."

Professor Upham admitted that while the team "definitely haven't been able to find a cure for man-flu", they had made a "crucially important" discovery in the fight against the common cold.

He said: "While these viruses are just a nuisance in healthy people, they can make people with asthma or other chronic lung diseases very unwell.

"In our efforts to find new ways to prevent these infections, we need to take into account the effects of hormones, and how they affect the immune system." - Daily Mail

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