Professor Cruickshank looks at:<\/p>\n
- \n
- the impact of COVID on our immune system<\/li>\n
- impact of Long COVID\u00a0<\/li>\n
- the “immunity debt” hypothesis\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
On the concept of “immunity debt” Professor Cruickshank writes:<\/p>\n
\n
The \u201cimmunity debt\u201d hypothesis suggests the immune system is like a muscle requiring near-constant exposure to infectious agents to keep it functioning. So, the argument goes, a lack of exposure due to lockdowns damaged immune development, especially in children, by making our immune systems \u201cforget\u201d earlier knowledge. This supposedly left them more vulnerable to infections when social mixing returned to normal.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though this idea has gained traction, there\u2019s no immunological evidence to support it. It\u2019s not true to say we require a constant background of infection for our immune system to work. Our immune systems are immensely robust and powerful. For example, immune memory to the 1918 influenza pandemic was still evident after 90 years.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not strictly true to say children weren\u2019t exposed to viruses during the early pandemic. Lockdowns didn\u2019t commence until after waves of the usual winter respiratory infections in 2019\/2020, and schools in the UK reopened in autumn 2020 with variable preventive measures, so children were still exposed to infections, including COVID-19.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
You can read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.0.106″ in_same_term=”off” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.0.106″ show_avatar=”on” show_reply=”on” show_count=”on” background_layout=”light” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”on” button_icon_placement=”right” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_use_icon=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover=”null” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover=”null” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover=”null” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover=”null” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover=”null” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover=”null” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover=”null” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover=”null” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover=”null” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover=”null” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover=”null” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover=”null” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover=”null” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover=”null” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover=”null” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_layout=”light” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off”]<\/p>\n
Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>How your state of mind could affect your Covid jab.<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/div>The AstraZeneca vaccine saved millions of lives \u2013 it should not be demonised<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/div>April Press Releases 2020<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.0.106″ area=”sidebar-1″ orientation=”left” show_border=”off” background_layout=”light” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Connect Title” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” _builder_version=”3.0.90″ background_color=”#1d1d1d” module_class=”footer-section” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” global_module=”380″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” global_parent=”380″ locked=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” make_equal=”off” module_id=”footer-row” _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n
Contact Us<\/h4>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us” global_parent=”380″ text_text_color=”#aaaaaa” parent_locked=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” module_class=”contact-us” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n
+44 (0)161 306 3771<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Find Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n
Find Us<\/h4>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Address” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_id=”address” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n
The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Connect Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n
Connect With Us<\/h4>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code admin_label=”Social Media” global_parent=”380″ parent_locked=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n
- <\/pee> <\/p>\n
- \u00a0
![\"Twitter](\"\/\/assets.manchester.ac.uk\/phase1\/templates\/images\/icon-twitter-50.png\")
<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/p>\n
- \u00a0
![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk\/media\/mhs\/mhs-new\/assets\/images\/icon-youtube-large.png\")
<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our Eco-immunology Deputy Branch Lead Professor Sheena Cruickshank writes in The Conversation about the large wave of respiratory tract infections over the past two months in countries like the UK and the US, which has led some to question whether COVID damages the immune system and if measures taken during the pandemic resulted in children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5220,"featured_media":3028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,66,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid-19","category-news","category-sheena-cruickshank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3031,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions\/3031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/lydia-becker-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \u00a0
- \u00a0