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I'm not sure how this information improves the fight against COVID. Is the argument that everyone should be constantly sick with a cold instead? How many peopl

I'm not sure how this information improves the fight against COVID. Is the argument that everyone should be constantly sick with a cold instead? How many people have a cold at any one time, and what are the odds those same people would be infected with COVID? There's also no mention of whether that would give lasting COVID immunity, or if it would just swing around for when the person isn't actively sick. I don't know if the Mr Burns method of fighting COVID is a particularly great idea.

nradov 5y ago
My comment was about overall health, not specifically about COVID-19. There is more to health than fighting one specific virus.
dilap 5y ago
I don't think it does anything to help in the fight against COVID, but it does highlight potential unanticipated adverse effects of COVID mitigation measures -- e.g., what's going to be the impact on the immune systems of kids that end up being "socially-distanced" for N years?
- nkozyra 5y ago
  > what's going to be the impact on the immune systems of kids that end up being "socially-distanced" for N years? Do you have kids? They're ... pretty good at getting germs, masks/social distancing or not. When they get exposed to a pathogen is largely luck anyway. Nobody's in a sterile environment here. These kids are touching/licking stuff, picking noses, rubbing eyes, you name it.
  - dilap 5y ago
    No kids yet; appreciate the comment -- your perspective + the sibling comment make me think my concern was probably unwarranted.
- tkahnoski 5y ago
  From what the first 5 weeks of my son returning to school in person, very little. Even with required masks the common cold is still making its way through his classroom. We know this because each kid basically is out for a day to get tested for COVID than comes back. So instead of ten kids getting sick all at once, it's progressing through one or two at a time. Our current measures are blunting the spread of germs but by no means have we managed to hit a 'sterile' environment where there is no spread.
gwbas1c 5y ago
The good news is that, if you have a bad cold, catching covid-19 won't "do you in."
clord 5y ago
I’m surprised to see people disparaging natural immunity. This news about the rhinovirus is great. We should not turn our backs on any method of reaching herd immunity. There was previous news that one of the coronavirus cold strains also provided good immune response to sars-cov2. And of course cov2 itself has proven to produce a very effective antibody response such that those for whom it is less dangerous than flu might consider trying to get infected (don’t take my words as medical advice; talk to your doctor!). I’d consider bringing my young kids to a ‘pox party’ to help get things under control, given the latest evidence. The only reason I don’t still is social pressure, but the science is getting pretty clear that this virus is more like chicken pox than we thought, including it’s age dependent effect curve. Especially now that we’re seeing that the effect of current vaccines is waining over 6-12 months, it’s time to start thinking more widely as the first people with the vaccine are coming back into risk. Animal reservoir data suggests this choice might be forced anyway - we can’t go vaccinating all the bats.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  > I’m surprised to see people disparaging natural immunity. This news about the rhinovirus is great. We should not turn our backs on any method of reaching herd immunity. I'm not disparaging, I'm asking if it actually grants any. Does the body actually learn to fight COVID if it's just throw up defenses for the Cold? > I’d consider bringing my young kids to a ‘pox party’ to help get things under control, given the latest evidence. Pox parties only worked because the parents and grandparents were already immune. Instead you're creating your own little super-spreader event that will move through whoever they come in contact with. People wouldn't have done Pox parties if they thought they were going to kill grandma with them. Also, please keep in mind that, like chicken pox, while many children will be OK, some don't, so much so that children's hospitals currently need help[1]. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/09/01/1033233408/childrens-hospitals-coronavirus-covid-capacity-federal-help https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/0...
  - clord 5y ago
    > Pox parties only worked because the parents and grandparents were already immune. Instead you're creating your own little super-spreader event that will move through whoever they come in contact with I'm not suggesting we do it willy nilly. This summer could have been a great opportunity to organize camps with immune adults overseeing such events. 412 people under 18 in the US died from COVID, whereas non-covid pnumonia is 924 (both in spite of measures to control respiratory viruses). It's pretty clear that the benefit of such parties on older people would outweigh the cost to the kids, especially when you factor in the exploding teen suicide rate attributable in part to the lockdowns affecting social lives.[1] [0] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex-and-Age/9bhg-hcku/data https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex... [1] https://fee.org/articles/cdc-reports-51-increase-in-suicide-attempts-among-teenage-girls/ https://fee.org/articles/cdc-reports-51-increase-in-suicide-...

nradov 5y ago

My comment was about overall health, not specifically about COVID-19. There is more to health than fighting one specific virus.

dilap 5y ago

I don't think it does anything to help in the fight against COVID, but it does highlight potential unanticipated adverse effects of COVID mitigation measures -- e.g., what's going to be the impact on the immune systems of kids that end up being "socially-distanced" for N years?

nkozyra 5y ago
> what's going to be the impact on the immune systems of kids that end up being "socially-distanced" for N years? Do you have kids? They're ... pretty good at getting germs, masks/social distancing or not. When they get exposed to a pathogen is largely luck anyway. Nobody's in a sterile environment here. These kids are touching/licking stuff, picking noses, rubbing eyes, you name it.
- dilap 5y ago
  No kids yet; appreciate the comment -- your perspective + the sibling comment make me think my concern was probably unwarranted.
tkahnoski 5y ago
From what the first 5 weeks of my son returning to school in person, very little. Even with required masks the common cold is still making its way through his classroom. We know this because each kid basically is out for a day to get tested for COVID than comes back. So instead of ten kids getting sick all at once, it's progressing through one or two at a time. Our current measures are blunting the spread of germs but by no means have we managed to hit a 'sterile' environment where there is no spread.

gwbas1c 5y ago

The good news is that, if you have a bad cold, catching covid-19 won't "do you in."

clord 5y ago

I’m surprised to see people disparaging natural immunity. This news about the rhinovirus is great. We should not turn our backs on any method of reaching herd immunity. There was previous news that one of the coronavirus cold strains also provided good immune response to sars-cov2. And of course cov2 itself has proven to produce a very effective antibody response such that those for whom it is less dangerous than flu might consider trying to get infected (don’t take my words as medical advice; talk to your doctor!). I’d consider bringing my young kids to a ‘pox party’ to help get things under control, given the latest evidence. The only reason I don’t still is social pressure, but the science is getting pretty clear that this virus is more like chicken pox than we thought, including it’s age dependent effect curve. Especially now that we’re seeing that the effect of current vaccines is waining over 6-12 months, it’s time to start thinking more widely as the first people with the vaccine are coming back into risk. Animal reservoir data suggests this choice might be forced anyway - we can’t go vaccinating all the bats.

SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
> I’m surprised to see people disparaging natural immunity. This news about the rhinovirus is great. We should not turn our backs on any method of reaching herd immunity. I'm not disparaging, I'm asking if it actually grants any. Does the body actually learn to fight COVID if it's just throw up defenses for the Cold? > I’d consider bringing my young kids to a ‘pox party’ to help get things under control, given the latest evidence. Pox parties only worked because the parents and grandparents were already immune. Instead you're creating your own little super-spreader event that will move through whoever they come in contact with. People wouldn't have done Pox parties if they thought they were going to kill grandma with them. Also, please keep in mind that, like chicken pox, while many children will be OK, some don't, so much so that children's hospitals currently need help[1]. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/09/01/1033233408/childrens-hospitals-coronavirus-covid-capacity-federal-help https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/0...
- clord 5y ago
  > Pox parties only worked because the parents and grandparents were already immune. Instead you're creating your own little super-spreader event that will move through whoever they come in contact with I'm not suggesting we do it willy nilly. This summer could have been a great opportunity to organize camps with immune adults overseeing such events. 412 people under 18 in the US died from COVID, whereas non-covid pnumonia is 924 (both in spite of measures to control respiratory viruses). It's pretty clear that the benefit of such parties on older people would outweigh the cost to the kids, especially when you factor in the exploding teen suicide rate attributable in part to the lockdowns affecting social lives.[1] [0] https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex-and-Age/9bhg-hcku/data https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Provisional-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Sex... [1] https://fee.org/articles/cdc-reports-51-increase-in-suicide-attempts-among-teenage-girls/ https://fee.org/articles/cdc-reports-51-increase-in-suicide-...