3 replies to this topic

[gamesguru]

"COVID-19 does eliminate a significant number of T-cells, enough to make large numbers of sick people overwhelm emergency wards with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), pneumonia, strep infections and other ailments."

 

https://www.therecor...2ef8cea80e.html

 

The study claims HIV is the only other infection capable of this. They're clear that COVID is nowhere as severe as HIV. But the loss of T-cells largely explains the rise in other infections we have been seeing.

 

Additional research supporting this concern:

 

T-cell recovery and evidence of persistent immune activation 12 months after severe COVID-19
2022 Aug
https://pubmed.ncbi....h.gov/35567391/

"T-cell numbers and function recover in most patients after COVID-19. However, we find evidence of persistent T-cell activation up to 12 months after infection and describe a subgroup of severe COVID-19 patients with persistently low CD8+ T-cell counts exhibiting a dysregulated immune response during acute infection."


A role for T-cell exhaustion in Long COVID-19 and severe outcomes for several categories of COVID-19 patients
2021 Jul 19
https://pubmed.ncbi....h.gov/34288064/


Elevated exhaustion levels and reduced functional diversity of T cells in peripheral blood may predict severe progression in COVID-19 patients
17 March 2020
https://www.nature.c...1423-020-0401-3

"Recent studies have shown that in addition to dyspnea, hypoxemia, and acute respiratory distress, lymphopenia, and cytokine release syndrome are also important clinical features in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.3 This suggests that homeostasis of the immune system plays an important role in the development of COVID-19 pneumonia."


Immunosuppression as a Hallmark of Critical COVID-19: Prospective Study
23 May 2021
https://www.mdpi.com...-4409/10/6/1293


SARS-CoV-2-induced immunodysregulation and the need for higher clinical suspicion for co-infection and secondary infection in COVID-19 patients
February 2021
https://www.scienced...684118220302140

"Currently, the pathogenic mechanisms underlying the SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with immune dysfunction that permits secondary infection are not well understood.... Co-infection prevalence is estimated to be as high as 50% among COVID-19 fatalities.9"

 

[Florin]

Influenza can also weaken the immune system and lead to pneumonia.

[gamesguru]

Influenza can also weaken the immune system and lead to pneumonia.

 

That's a good point. I also found some evidence to support it.

 

Neutrophil-mediated T-Cell Suppression in Influenza: Novel Finding Raising Additional Questions
https://www.atsjourn...cmb.2017-0425ED

 

Has there been any investigation into the severity or incidence rate? I think it's important to do a detailed comparison, both statistically of morbidity and theoretically of suggested mechanisms of action.

It's worth considering all differences between influenza and the novel coronavirus. Perhaps one evolves faster. Perhaps a lack of initial immunity caused a high case fatality rate, but it's equally possible that COVID produces a more severe or inflammatory immune response.

 

A Comparison of COVID-19 and Influenza-Associated Myocarditis: A Nationwide Study in the United States
2023 Mar 12
https://www.ncbi.nlm...es/PMC10008141/

"There are many similarities between COVID-19 and influenza infections such as viral transmission, risk factors for infection, and the range of symptoms.4 However, there are also clear differences. The intense cytokine storm that occurs during COVID-19 can result in myocardial inflammation without the presence of viral particle in myocardial biopsy while influenza myocarditis appears to be related mainly to direct viral invasion of myocytes."

[Florin]

Infections respiratory diseases may accelerate aging via the production of senescent cells. However, I would be surprised if covid didn't cause more damage (like senescent cells) than influenza.

 

OTOH, influenza occurs every year and mitigation is half-hearted at best and wrong at worst. It kills up to 500k each year, which approaches the number of deaths per decade (5 million) as covid (using the 7 million low-end estimate) caused in 3 years. The protection offered by flu vaccines isn't that great; during some flu seasons, vaccines don't match the strains which are circulating due to manufacturing lag, and the elderly generally respond less well to vaccines than younger people. Besides getting a vaccine, the only other WHO/CDC recommendations are the usual fomite/droplet avoidance advice which won't work. Mask use is an afterthought, if it's mentioned at all, and respirators are never mentioned. So, I can see how over a lifetime of exposure, damage from the flu may equal or exceed damage from covid.