So even I had the idea that with masks etc, it might be that we're not giving our Immune systems enough "practice" and thus when we take them off we're weaker. Apparently, the immune system is not like a muscle that has to be exercised. It simply remembers.
Huh, interesting:
A metaphor that I have been using imagines our immune system as a photo collection. It takes a snapshot of every pathogen it encounters so that it can recognize the bad guy for next time. This is how our immune systems fight back. The photos don’t fade because they aren’t looked at for a few years; they just sit there until they are needed. When a virus mutates, it’s trying to disguise itself to evade detection. But, with Covid, the virus is also punching holes, fading or wearing out the photos—making them less and less useful as tools for identifying other viruses. Instead of immunity debt, we should be thinking about immunity theft.
Huh, though I wonder if it means that a mask means we take less photos in that time? well, you know my take. I've heard of masks and Studies showing it hasn't been effective in reducing those who contract Covid. Fine. but with something as crazy infectious as Omicron, I wonder what the hospitalization (vs age vs vaxxed or not etc) rates are. After all, initial viral load makes a difference, right?
Nevertheless, the fact that Covid is suppressing immunity is kinda crazy and something to think about. (need more studies and the likes of Pfizer etc should be made to make them over and over with all the billions they have).
Still read the article. We need more evidence, but that Covid is making us weaker is nuts to think about:
There have been studies looking at the way Covid causes T-cell exhaustion. We now know that the virus can directly infect T cells (the guardian cells that spot infections and help defend the immune system), which we didn’t know before. There was also a study conducted by a group of pediatric specialists at several American hospitals where they looked at three groups of babies. The first group had RSV and Covid at the same time with very high viral loads, which sounds bad; the second group had RSV and Covid at the same time with low viral loads, which sounds less bad; the third group was babies who had RSV and had previously recovered from Covid. It was this last group that was by far the sickest—the ones that had to be ventilated. But it was a small study. You need more participants in order to get a consistent result. And of course it could be a giant coincidence, but it is frighteningly in keeping with this idea of immune system harm.
Shame that it seems all public officials are going bonkers, liberal or GOP (it's just the presentation as it were). I do think we just need more studies on all of this. And that should allow us to move to "normal" in a much easier fashion.
That being said, that doesn't mean covid messes with T-cells, so we'll have to wait and see about what studies show in the future.
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