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Could a survived corona infection make us more susceptible to other diseases in the long term?
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Photo: MASKOT / IMAGO
The wave of colds that has hit Germany in recent months was extraordinary.
After most protective measures were removed, the flu, RSV and rhinoviruses circulated particularly violently, while the corona virus tended to slip out of focus.
There has been much debate about the exact causes.
Above all, whether past corona infections could have made people more susceptible to other infections.
Politicians didn't hold back with their assessments either.
“It is worrying what we are seeing in people who have had multiple corona infections.
Studies now show very clearly that those affected are often dealing with an immune deficiency whose duration we do not yet know," Karl Lauterbach, the Federal Minister of Health, recently told the "Rheinische Post".
In an earlier version, some of which was heavily criticized, he had spoken of an “immune deficiency that could no longer be cured”.
Lauterbach then made it clear that there was currently no question of an incurable immune deficiency – and he spoke of an error in the release of the text.
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Shortly before the turn of the year, Charité virologist Christian Drosten also spoke about a feared aging of the immune system.
In a "Tagesspiegel" interview, he referred to immunological findings: These suggested that the aging of the immune system in children after corona infection was much more advanced than expected.
"One can now ask oneself pointedly whether an unvaccinated child after infection might have the immune system of an 80-year-old at 30," said Drosten.
It was initially unclear to which data Drosten and Lauterbach were referring.
Some studies have already been published that deal with the effects of Sars-CoV-2 on the immune system - including long-term consequences.
They were shared on social media after Lauterbach's statements.
Some studies sound worrying.
Among other things, it is about damaged immunity against fungal infections, a long-term disturbance of the peripheral immune system or an impaired function of certain cells.
Defense usually comes back into balance
"Unfortunately, the findings that are available are often overinterpreted," said immunologist Christine Falk from the Hannover Medical School recently in "Zeit Online".
They are usually difficult or impossible to interpret for laypeople.
Many observations also relate to long-Covid patients.
From Falk's point of view, there is "currently no reason for most people to worry that their immune system will work less well after one or more corona infections".
The British immunologist Sheena Cruickshank from the University of Manchester recently explained in an article on the portal »The Conversation« that temporary changes in the immune system after an infection are normal.
Even if the technical details sound dramatic to laypeople, it has been shown that most people's defenses regain balance after recovery.
There are also other aspects: Sars-CoV-2 is considered to be particularly well researched compared to many other viruses.
"Probably no virus infection passes us by without consequences," says molecular biologist Emanuel Wyler from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.
HIV is known to be particularly harmful to the immune system - and measles essentially mean a reset of the immune system, explains Wyler.
Rhinoviruses, on the other hand, which cause colds, are comparatively harmless.
"The question is where Sars-CoV-2 fits into this broad spectrum and how the virus still stands out in vaccinated people compared to the many viral infections over the course of a lifetime."
Wyler also points out that a number of study results date from before the Covid 19 vaccination.
What is reported in it about seriously ill people who were infected with early variants is not automatically transferrable to healthy and vaccinated 20-year-olds in the times of the omicron variant.
A new analysis by German scientists also shows that an infection with the corona virus can cause serious problems in some groups.
accumulation of autoimmune diseases
Specifically, it is about autoimmune diseases, which, according to the extensive evaluation of health insurance data, occur much more frequently after the infection has been overcome.
According to the analysis, there were 15.05 diagnoses of an autoimmune disease in people with corona infection per 1000 insured years, in people without such an infection there were only 10.55 diagnoses.
Patients with a more severe course of corona had a particularly high risk.
Certain blood vessel inflammations showed the greatest associations with Covid-19.
The results have not yet been published in a specialist journal - and according to the researchers they only relate to unvaccinated people who have had a proven corona infection with the wild type of the virus.
There is currently no corresponding knowledge about other variants of the virus.
The study is part of a project funded by the Robert Koch Institute and the federal government on the long-term effects of Covid.
As far as the most recent waves of colds are concerned, immunologists have been emphasizing for months that these should primarily be seen as catch-up effects.
Because during the corona years, other respiratory pathogens circulated less strongly.
If people actually had a weakened immune system across the board, other infections would also have to increase - "such as those with atypical pathogens that do not normally make people sick," Falk said in an interview with "Zeit Online".
According to the immunologist, it is still too early for an overall picture – so everything should not always be translated into a warning or the all-clear.
Discussions among experts continued.
Much is therefore provisional and does not belong in the public domain.
jae/dpa