An unusually early wave of influenza in Germany, and another strong wave of respiratory syncytial virus in children, in addition to many colds and bacterial infections, coincided with the end of many protection measures against Corona, and the change appeared through an unprecedented increase in the number of patients during the past few months. .

And now that a large number of the population has already been infected with Corona one or more times, there is a lot of talk about a lack of immunity that may last for a long time even after recovery from Corona.

So what happens?

German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach recently said in statements to the newspaper "Rheinische Post" that what they monitor in people who have been infected several times with corona is worrisome, as "studies now show very clearly that infected people often have a lack of immunity for a period whose duration we do not yet know."

In previous statements, the minister spoke of an "incurable immune deficiency," but Lauterbach then clarified that he did not mean that, pointing to an error in issuing the text of his statements.

Aging of the immune system

Shortly before the end of last year, Christian Drosten, a virologist at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, spoke of the alarming aging of the immune system.

In an interview with "Tagesspiegel" newspaper, Drosten referred to data indicating that the aging of the immune system in children after infection with Corona was much more advanced than expected, and he said, "It is now possible to ask clearly how likely it is that an unvaccinated child will have it - after infection with Corona." At the age of 30 - the immune system of an 80-year-old man.

It is not possible to ascertain the exact data that both the minister and the virologist refer to.

When inquiring about health, you are generally referred to the minister's Twitter account, where he talked about studies.

It seems that the results that Drosten talked about are not yet published.

When asked by any scientist who is well informed about Corona developments, the response is that they have not seen such data, and therefore they refrain from making any assessment.

Of course, there are already published studies related to corona and the immune system, including the long-term consequences of infection with the virus.

Such studies were actively shared on social media after Lauterbach's remarks.

Some of the headlines of the studies sounded alarming, as they talked about, for example, a weakened immunity against fungal infections, a long-term disorder in the peripheral immune system, and poor function of some cells.

Corona is not AIDS transmitted through the air

"Unfortunately, the available results are often over-interpreted," immunologist Christiane Falk of Hannover Medical School recently said, explaining that they are often difficult or impossible to interpret for ordinary people.

Falk stated in statements to the "Zeit Online" newspaper that many of the observations also relate to patients suffering from long-term symptoms of corona, and she said, "Currently there is no reason for most people to worry that their immune system will function worse after one or more infections with corona," explaining that Corona also "is not AIDS transmitted through the air," as some portray it, saying, "This is nonsense."

For her part, British immunologist Sheena Cruikshank of the University of Manchester recently explained in an article for the online portal "The Conversation" that temporary changes in the immune system after infection are normal.

And she stressed that even if the specialized medical details seem tragic to ordinary people, it has been proven that the immunity of most people restores its balance after recovery.

Even among weakened patients, only a small percentage of them continued to suffer more than 6 months from changes in the immune status after infection with Corona, and most of them were those who had a severe course of Corona or who had other underlying health problems.

Cruikshank stressed the need for more studies in this area, and said, "For most people, there is no evidence of damage to the immune system after infection with Corona."

aftereffect

It is also necessary to keep other aspects in mind when thinking about this topic, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus is well-studied compared to many other viruses.

"It is likely that no viral infection passes without consequences," says molecular biologist Emanuel Feller of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.

Feller points out that HIV is known to be particularly damaging to the immune system, and having measles is like a reset for the immune system.

On the other hand, the rhinoviruses that cause the common cold are relatively harmless, and he says, "The question: Where is the Corona virus with this wide spectrum of viruses, and how does a virus remain effective in people who have been vaccinated compared to many viral infections over a lifetime?"

He also talked about many results of studies dating back to before the vaccination campaigns against Corona, explaining that what was reported in them about people who suffered severe infections with the primary mutants of Corona cannot be withdrawn automatically on healthy and vaccinated people at the age of 20 years at the time of the “Omicron” mutator.

Immunologists have confirmed for months that the recent increase in cold waves should be seen primarily as an aftereffect after the emergence of respiratory pathogens has subsided for years during Corona.

And Falk returned to saying in statements to "Zeit Online" that if people already had a weak immune system, infections with other diseases would also have increased, "such as atypical pathogens that do not usually infect people with disease."

According to this immunologist, it is still too early to obtain a comprehensive picture of the situation, explaining that this should not translate everything into a warning or relaxation, noting that discussions between specialists are still ongoing, and many of them are not currently replaced by public opinion.