With flu season now in full force, a new phenomenon is taking place: More people are calling in sick with flu and colds than with COVID and, according to Daily Mail, in the U.K. the number tripled just in SEPTEMBER alone.
Some scientists are attributing the problem to people having decreased immunity to respiratory infections in general after the pandemic lockdowns.
According to Becker’s Hospital Review, “The problem many experts have with this concept — or the idea that the influx of flu and RSV that we're seeing now is due to a lack of exposure amid widespread masking and distancing during the last two respiratory virus seasons — is that there is no universal agreement on what ‘immunity debt’ actually means.”
Some health officials also worry that the concept may drive parents to ignore public health advisories, and to deliberately expose their children to various respiratory diseases with the intent of building up their immunity.
SOURCES:
Daily Mail December 18, 2022
Becker’s Hospital Review December 20, 2022