5 ms·
> This is yet more evidence that living in overly sterile environments isn't good for overall health. You could make that argument but here it appears it's not
by nkozyra 5y ago
> This is yet more evidence that living in overly sterile environments isn't good for overall health.
You could make that argument but here it appears it's not a lasting immune response but an ephemeral one which requires an active rhinovirus infection and antigen response to be protective.
It's also not definitive and the article mentions the possibility of cytokine storms.
- nradov 5y agoI am making an argument about overall long-term health, not about a specific, temporary immune response to SARS-CoV-2.
- rkangel 5y agoIf 'exposure to the common cold at some point in the past' led to improved immune response to Covid then this would be evidence to support your point. What this article is saying is that exposure to the cold virus at exactly the right point in time helps the immune system fight Covid. That's a small window that isn't overly helped by general exposure. You could even imagine it would be made worse - if we're all exposed to the cold all the time we've developed more immunity and this mechanism might not happen.
- taeric 5y agoOddly, stating it this way feels like a reasonable explanation for why kids were so spared. During cold season, they are continuously exposed, it seems. I'm still sceptical of any broad generalization here.