Epidemiologists continue to investigate whether Covid-19 lockdowns increased the likelihood of surges in other diseases, given that respiratory infections were more or less stopped in their tracks during the first year or so of the pandemic. There is also the possibility that catching Covid-19 has increased children’s susceptibility to other diseases by harming their immune systems somehow – though doctors say this is unlikely, as there is no evidence for such an effect. But what exactly is going on?
There’s a “pretty good argument” behind the idea that infections like this are spiking as a kind of delayed impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns, [pediatrician Ronny Cheung] suggests. But it is difficult to unpick that from natural seasonal variability.
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While our view of what’s going on is getting sharper, many unanswered questions remain, including whether Covid-19 infection has actually affected children’s immune systems in such a way that they are less able to fight off RSV, strep A, flu and other pathogens.
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“We haven’t seen any data to support that prior Covid infection decreases your immunity and that you will get a more severe subsequent infection of any other virus or even bacteria,” says [pediatrician Rabia] Agha.
