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Mmedical t1_j8duoil wrote

Are you suggesting that a COVID infection somehow inherently weakens the immune system or that the person themselves are left less resilient after having a serious illness?

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dustymoon1 t1_j8dvm6y wrote

It does. It actually is considered an immune system virus.

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Mmedical t1_j8e0uy3 wrote

COVID causes a dysregulated immune and inflammatory response during the infection but to my knowledge does not leave the immune system impaired like say, HIV. Do you have sources I could read?

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phred14 t1_j8dxvr2 wrote

Interesting. I've read information pointing in this direction, but hadn't heard it stated as a conclusion.

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KaneXX12 t1_j8eofco wrote

These sources do point to an association between COVID-19 and increased risk of various autoimmune conditions, however, this is a far cry from conclusively saying “your immune system takes a hit with every covid infection as well.”

And it isn’t considered an “immune system virus”. That would imply it actively targets the immune system. There is evidence that it can infect certain immune cells like macrophages, but it is considered a respiratory system virus because that is the primary tissue it attacks (as opposed to an actual immune system virus like HIV, which specifically targets immune cells and spreads throughout the lymphatic system).

Not trying to be dismissive, but there is not enough research yet to fully characterize the effect on the immune system, or how long such effects might last, and claiming conclusively one way or the other is irresponsible.

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johnleeshooker t1_j8dwr7n wrote

In 30 years or so, after x number of infections from a constantly mutating virus, our children may never forgive us this small moment in history.

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mb_500- t1_j8e7dtk wrote

Your comment is such a gut punch. My son, contracted CoVid at age 7. He was incredibly sick with MIS-c and long CoVid for 8 months following. He contracted it again, 9 months after the initial infection and again, long CoVid for months following. His immune system was absolutely devastated and he caught everything. The vaccine wasn’t approved for him yet when he got it the first time and I’ll never forgive myself for not keeping him home. We failed our children and we don’t even understand the price they may have to pay years down the road.

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johnleeshooker t1_j8e9ooy wrote

I didn’t mean it as such. I too have family members and friends that are immunocompromised. Hopefully it doesn’t play out that way. Keep following the science.

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