3 ms·

I down-voted because that has nothing to do with a "degraded immune systems". Many of the more common respiratory viruses also died out in New Zealand with the

I down-voted because that has nothing to do with a "degraded immune systems". Many of the more common respiratory viruses also died out in New Zealand with the quarantine. Kids never got a chance to develop immunity to those particular diseases previously and now it's coming on in a wave as they are reintroduced. It's not that their response is special, in normal circumstances kids would have gotten sick and been hospitalized, that it's happening all at once is.

swader999 5y ago
No, they would have stronger immune systems from repeated exposure without the extreme lockdowns NZ introduced and less hospitalizations. Respiratory viruses don't die out, they can persist in animal populations indefinitely. Sars Cov2 antibodies detected in 40% of NE deer populations for instance. Not to mention cats and dogs...
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  I assume you have evidence of the claim that by being regularly sick your immune system is stronger? Sure, it's run into more things it has learned to fight, but just because it knows how to fight a catalogue of things it doesn't mean that it will be better with the next novel pandemic, right?
  - nradov 5y ago
    The risk is more around autoimmune conditions like asthma and allergies. If the immune system doesn't start fighting off a variety of pathogens from an early age then it might go haywire later. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/ We should be focusing on overall health rather than just individual infectious diseases.
    - SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
      I don't much care for the hygiene hypothesis for allergies. I grew up on an acreage with all sorts of animals. I'm allergic to all of them, so much so that my parents got my allergy shots for several years. I'm most allergic to horses, which we had a trio of. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. And if it were true I'd much prefer more allergies to COVID. Of note in that paper they are suggesting therapeutic strategies that involve controlled exposure of particular items, and how those exposures are fraught with potential dangers as well.

swader999 5y ago

No, they would have stronger immune systems from repeated exposure without the extreme lockdowns NZ introduced and less hospitalizations. Respiratory viruses don't die out, they can persist in animal populations indefinitely. Sars Cov2 antibodies detected in 40% of NE deer populations for instance. Not to mention cats and dogs...

SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
I assume you have evidence of the claim that by being regularly sick your immune system is stronger? Sure, it's run into more things it has learned to fight, but just because it knows how to fight a catalogue of things it doesn't mean that it will be better with the next novel pandemic, right?
- nradov 5y ago
  The risk is more around autoimmune conditions like asthma and allergies. If the immune system doesn't start fighting off a variety of pathogens from an early age then it might go haywire later. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/ We should be focusing on overall health rather than just individual infectious diseases.
  - SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
    I don't much care for the hygiene hypothesis for allergies. I grew up on an acreage with all sorts of animals. I'm allergic to all of them, so much so that my parents got my allergy shots for several years. I'm most allergic to horses, which we had a trio of. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. And if it were true I'd much prefer more allergies to COVID. Of note in that paper they are suggesting therapeutic strategies that involve controlled exposure of particular items, and how those exposures are fraught with potential dangers as well.