“The surging case numbers and their out-of-whack timing have fueled an ongoing debate about how the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to rates of other infectious diseases. No one yet knows for sure… While immunity debt refers to the ramifications of reduced exposure to a variety of pathogens resulting from efforts to rein in SARS-CoV-2, immunity theft refers to the notion that SARS-CoV-2 itself steals immunity, leaving some people who’ve had COVID-19 more susceptible to other infections. … A recently published brief report describes a small study that found the functions of RSV-specific antibodies in women of childbearing age in British Columbia waned while COVID-19 mitigation measures were implemented.

“After an acute viral respiratory infection, your immune system is in repair mode, explained Wolfgang Leitner, PhD, chief of the Innate Immunity Section at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “During that repair cycle, your immune system is suppressed. People who die from influenza typically die from a secondary bacterial infection taking advantage of that immune suppression, not from influenza itself, he noted.

“A recent study found that US children who’d had COVID-19 were significantly more likely to contract RSV.”