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Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 10:48 PM Feb 2021

Schools may see a burst of the common cold when they reopen, research suggests

Acurious thing happened when Hong Kong reopened schools after closing them because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It bears watching here.

Hong Kong closed its schools to in-person learning from late January 2020 to late May — and then again in early July, when more Covid cases were detected. Within a few weeks of schools reopening in October, they started to see large numbers of kids getting sick, despite mandatory mask-wearing, additional spacing between desks, and other measures to lower the risk of spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

But the children weren’t infected with the virus. Nor did they have influenza, which would have been another possibility. They were infected with rhinoviruses — one of the most common causes of the common cold.

Researchers believe the surge in illness was no accident — but rather a consequence of children congregating after so many months of social distancing. In short, they may have been more susceptible to respiratory viruses because they likely had fewer exposures to people outside their households and thus fewer chances to contract them and build up immunity.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/23/schools-may-see-a-burst-of-the-common-cold-when-they-reopen-research-suggests/

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Schools may see a burst of the common cold when they reopen, research suggests (Original Post) Klaralven Feb 2021 OP
For what it's worth, there are lots and lots of cold viruses. PoindexterOglethorpe Feb 2021 #1
Scientists identify more than 140,000 virus species in the human gut Klaralven Feb 2021 #2
Oh, my. PoindexterOglethorpe Feb 2021 #3
I've seen estimates that microorganisms in one's body outnumber cells by ten to one Klaralven Feb 2021 #4
Admittedly A Smaller School Population Than Hong Kong... ProfessorGAC Feb 2021 #5
I haven't had a single cold all year Sympthsical Feb 2021 #6
Happened in my house. Son went back to school f2f and bad rhinovirus JCMach1 Feb 2021 #7

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,746 posts)
1. For what it's worth, there are lots and lots of cold viruses.
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 11:38 PM
Feb 2021

Hundreds, possibly thousands. Once you get one specific cold, you won't get that one again. But, at the risk of repeating myself, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of cold viruses. So when a new one shows up, guess what? Yep, you guessed it. You get the cold.

One reason older people don't get as many colds as younger folks, is that they've already been exposed to lots and lots of cold viruses. For me, at age 72, I laugh at colds. Also at influenza, which is a slightly different topic.

I will point out this: immune systems tend to be unique to the individual. Our immune systems are actually designed to be challenged by lots of diseases/viruses/bacteria in our early years. If we survive (and in historical context a lot of us didn't) we are then immune to lots and lots of stuff. By then (and this is at about age 10 or so) we need to contend with things like broken bones or wounds. Keep in mind, I'm talking about how we collectively lived at least 5,000 or so years ago. Those of us who made it to age 20 or so were good for the duration.

In our era, we expect almost all children will live to grow up. Even in my childhood, in the 1950s, childhood diseases, meaning things like chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, were what all kids got and the vast majority survived. Yes, I'm glad we now have vaccinations for those.

Meanwhile, each and every one of us has been through a different set of challenges. What we inherited from our parents is likewise different.

It is clear to me, when I see the many different responses to the Covid 19 virus, that our individual specific immune systems really do matter.

But back to the OP. The children at risk have only had a limited exposure to cold viruses. It's to be expected they will come down with lots and lots of colds.

I had the good fortune to be a middle child of six. And in my early years we lived in subsidized housing. Lots of families with little kids. I also attended Catholic School with very large classrooms. I recall being sick a LOT when I was five years old. Missed lots of days in kindergarten. First grade year I only missed one day. And after that, although we moved from subsidized housing to a place my parents built in the country, I remained incredibly well.

It's hard to know how much is my childhood exposure and how much is my innate resistance. I suspect we could never figure that out because again, we are all different, with different genetics and different exposures.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
2. Scientists identify more than 140,000 virus species in the human gut
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 11:46 PM
Feb 2021

Viruses are the most numerous biological entities on the planet. Now researchers have identified over 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, more than half of which have never been seen before.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210218142739.htm

ProfessorGAC

(64,414 posts)
5. Admittedly A Smaller School Population Than Hong Kong...
Wed Feb 24, 2021, 09:37 AM
Feb 2021

...I've not seen any such thing, and since October, I've been in 9 different schools in 6 towns as a sub.
Attendance for those attending in-person has been routinely very high (0-2 absences in homerooms) and I've been in schools over 50 times since everybody went back to some form of in-person attendance.
Anecdotal, but very different than what's described in this article.

Sympthsical

(8,935 posts)
6. I haven't had a single cold all year
Wed Feb 24, 2021, 09:44 AM
Feb 2021

Not even a sniffle. Masks and social distancing, yo.

I honestly may just keep the mask lifestyle once all this is over. Works in Asia.

JCMach1

(27,544 posts)
7. Happened in my house. Son went back to school f2f and bad rhinovirus
Wed Feb 24, 2021, 09:52 AM
Feb 2021

Followed in a few weeks and hit everyone in our house.

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