What is immunity debt – and is it really making kids sick?

What is immunity debt – and is it really making kids sick?



What is immunity debt?

In the early pandemic period, non-COVID illnesses fell in areas where people stayed home, avoided other people, washed their hands frequently, and took other steps to prevent themselves from being exposed to viruses.

Several viruses, like some strands of the flu, were totally wiped out during that time, but others simply came back once restrictions lifted and people began socialising more often – a phenomenon that some scientists refer to as an “immunity debt” that is still being paid off.

“Decreasing burdens on hospitals during the height of COVID, it was good to go in debt for that,” Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease doctor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in the US, told Euronews Health.
Why is the phrase controversial?

The term “immunity debt” is sometimes used to suggest that natural infections are better for our immune systems than vaccines and that pandemic-era restrictions were ineffective because people still got sick later on.
Does immunity debt explain all increases in infections?

While the immunity debt dynamics hold true for many viruses, some of them may be seeing a resurgence due to reasons other than immunity debt.

For example, Adalja said that the rise in whooping cough cases, also known as pertussis, is likely cyclical.


How does immunity debt affect the public and hospitals?

In 2021, European paediatric societies called for strengthened childhood vaccination programmes to counter immunity debt, and since 2023, RSV vaccines have been available for pregnant women and older adults in the European Union. They rolled out this year in the UK.

“Vaccines are a great way of filling the gap in immune stimulation which was left by a reduced rate of virus circulation,” Openshaw said.

Notably, increases in illnesses caused by immunity debt – or cyclical surges – could pose a bigger problem for health systems if they are hit with too many patients at once.

Website: International Conference on Infectious Diseases.

#InfectiousDiseases, #ICID2024, or relevant year, #GlobalHealth, #DiseasePrevention, #InfectiousDiseaseConference, #PublicHealth, #Epidemiology, #DiseaseControl, #HealthInnovation, #VaccinationMatters, #PandemicPreparedness, #PathogenResearch, #OneHealth, #InfectionPrevention, #GlobalDiseaseOutbreak, #ViralResearch, #EmergingInfectiousDiseases, #HealthSecurity, #MedicalConference, #ICIDSummit


Visit Our Website : infectious-diseases-conferences.pencis.com
Nomination Link : infectious-diseases-conferences.pencis.com/award-nomination
Registration Link : infectious-diseases-conferences.pencis.com/award-registration
Member Link : infectious-diseases-conferences.pencis.com/conference-membership
Awards-Winners : infectious-diseases-conferences.pencis.com/awards-winners/
Contact us : infectious@pencis.com


Get Connected Here:
==================

Social Media Link

Twitter : twitter.com/skyla00827177
Blog : infectious2021.blogspot.com
Instagram : www.instagram.com/infectious_diseases2021
Facebook : www.facebook.com/pencis.queen
YouTube : www.youtube.com/channel
Wikipedia : infectiousdiseases625904580.wordpress.com