Why is everyone sick right now?

"Immune debt" after Corona as the cause - immunity is sometimes completely missing

Created: 12/16/2022, 2:00 p.m

By: Juliane Gutmann

Influenza, RSV infections and influenza infections: In 2022 there will be more absenteeism.

The corona pandemic is doing its part.

A wave of RSV infections, the highest number of sick leave in companies for years and clinics reporting staff shortages due to sick leave: The first winter after the corona pandemic subsided was a tough one.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) estimates the number of patients with acute respiratory diseases in Germany at around 9.3 million - and that alone in the second week of December 2022. This means that an unusually large number of people are currently struggling with a respiratory infection such as influenza or the common cold .

The flu wave, which is accompanied by a high number of cases, begins earlier this season than usual in January.

The weekly RKI report of the Influenza Working Group as of mid-December 2022 states that the number of patients with respiratory infections "continues to be very well above the range of previous years at this time" and the "level that reached the peak of the strong flu wave 2017/ 18 observed is exceeded”.

According to the report, most of the reported cases of illness are due to an infection with influenza viruses.

Researchers and physicians are currently dealing with the question of whether and how the corona pandemic and the associated infection control measures are related to the current wave of diseases.

Tied to the sofa or bed with a cold?

In autumn and winter, respiratory infections are rampant again.

© Daniel Ingold/Imago

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Fighting viruses: Antibodies last for years

In this context, the term “immune debt” is used more frequently.

Proponents of the thesis describe a weakening of the immune system as a result of the corona protective measures, which is currently leading to more cases of illness.

But can masks, curfews and banned major events actually be responsible for the wave of respiratory diseases?

Colin Furness, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, says no at this point.

According to the expert, the immune system does not work like a muscle that has to be constantly trained.

As quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the body's own defenses work more like a photo collection that captures what is special about the pathogen.

Ideally, after the immune system comes into contact with a virus, antibodies are produced that fight the pathogen.

Once this has happened, the immunological memory comes into play: After renewed contact with the same pathogen, our defense "remembers" and quickly builds the antibodies that are individually suitable for the virus.

memory cells responsible for immunological memory

remain in the body for years after the disease has subsided and store all information about the pathogen that has been fought off like a database.

This is information from the German Rheumatism Research Center.

So you don't have to get infected with the virus every year to ensure a good immune system.

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Modified viruses as a challenge for the immune system

However, there are many pathogens that continue to develop, such as the influenza virus, which causes flu.

Therefore, influenza vaccines must be readjusted every year to ensure protection against the disease.

During the pandemic, many people were protected from the virus by wearing masks and other infection control measures.

The lack of contact with the mutated viruses means that the immune system lacks up-to-date information about the corresponding pathogen.

As a result, the immune system cannot react as quickly as with pathogens whose structure it knows well.

The antibodies first have to be produced, so the viruses have more time to spread in the body, which makes serious illnesses more likely.

The fact is that in the past Corona years, fewer people have contracted circulating respiratory infections due to infection control measures and, accordingly, immunity to certain viruses is completely absent (if there was never any contact before) or is less pronounced than before the pandemic, when people more regularly exposed to changing viruses.