It feels like everyone around you is coughing and sneezing. And the numbers also show: Germany is currently being hit by a severe wave of colds. Experts explain why this is and what the corona measures have to do with it.
Whether on the train, in the office or in the queue at the supermarket – people cough and sniffle more than they have in a long time. This is also reflected in the statistics for acute respiratory infections: by mid-December, the cold rate had climbed to eleven percent. According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 9.3 million people in Germany were acutely affected. “The currently very high value even exceeds the maximum values ??that have otherwise been reached in strong flu waves,” says the health experts in an assessment of the situation. But why is that?
The term “immune debt” is repeatedly mentioned in social networks as the reason for the high number of cases of illness. It is argued that the lockdowns and distancing measures of the past few years have built up a certain “backlog” of infections, which is now being sorted out. The immune system was not sufficiently trained by the mask and Co. Other viruses would now be able to strike more violently than before.
“For two years we had no contact with influenza viruses or the other flu-like infectious agents,” says doctor Christoph Specht ntv. “So there was no natural boost.” This has meant that the infections are now becoming more frequent and also somewhat more severe, the expert explains. “But that will subside over time.”
However, it is not the case that the immune system has become so bored in recent years that it has broken down, says immunologist Carsten Watzl to RBB. The term “immune debt” is misleading because it suggests that you have to pay a certain number of infections into an account. But that’s not true. “The immune system is not a muscle. If we don’t use it for a while, it’s still just as fit as it was before.” It is much more relevant which pathogen you come into contact with.
“The immune system is trained very specifically for certain pathogens,” explains Reinhold Förster from the Hannover Medical School on Bavarian radio. Some of the training sessions were canceled during the pandemic. By wearing a mask, for example, you didn’t miss any “training sessions” for pathogens in food. For viruses that affect the respiratory tract, however: “The immune system has therefore dealt with cold viruses much less,” says Förster.
However, the three experts see a combination of several factors as the reason for the current wave of illnesses: In addition to other infections, massive waves of influenza and RSV are currently taking place in parallel. Influenza, corona, rhino and adenoviruses are currently piling up. It is therefore also possible that you can become infected with different viruses several times in a row within a short period of time,” says immunologist Förster. “The immunity you have against one virus does not help to get immunity against another .” Therefore, for example, an infection with the rhinovirus, then with influenza and then with the classic corona cold virus is quite conceivable.
According to the RKI, children between the ages of 0 and 4 are particularly often ill and affected by respiratory infections. This can also be seen in the children’s hospitals, which are reaching the limits of their capacity in many places. Förster sees the reason for this in the almost complete lack of RSV wave in 2020. “The children could not become infected during these years and therefore had no chance of developing immunity,” he tells the broadcaster. This year there is therefore a catch-up effect that can also be observed in other countries.
