It probably did not escape you: there are a lot of sick people at the moment. Cough, runny nose, fever, deserted offices… On the eve of winter and a few days before Christmas, many people feel ill and the pediatric departments of hospitals are full.
Is it the logical consequence of the coronavirus which would have weakened our immune defenses? Bart Lambrecht, pulmonologist at UZ Gent and director of inflammatory diseases at the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology Research (VUB), was interviewed by Het Laatste Nieuws on the matter.
He agrees that a post-covid phenomenon manifests itself in young children: “What we’re seeing right now – especially with bronchiolitis – are delayed infections. A lot of people who normally would have been infected in the previous season weren’t. These viruses are sort of catching up. “says Bart Lambrecht.
The infection is caused by a virus that is passed between children. “But most babies born in 2020 didn’t have it in their first year of life. Masks and social distancing are obviously the cause. These children are now 2 years old and infected with RSV”, adds the pulmonologist. If for children of this age, bronchiolitis is less serious, if it is transmitted to infants, it is more so and can lead to hospitalization.
On the other hand, one might think that our immune system has been weakened by the coronavirus pandemic. This is not the case, according to the specialist.
“A year is too short to have a real impact on our resistance to infections. On the other hand, if we had maintained sanitary measures for five years, this would have been the case”he explains.
“The virus is trying to catch up”
But then, how to explain that there are so many patients at the moment? It was simply the mask that blocked viruses.
“As we wore masks, respiratory infections were less likely to spread. Even the rhinovirus, which causes the classic cold, did not circulate as much. Moreover, studies carried out on asthmatics have clearly demonstrated this. Normally , their disease worsens once or twice a year, and it is generally the rhinovirus which is responsible for it. However, it has been observed during the pandemic that there have been far fewer asthmatics in whom the disease has developed. is aggravated. Here too, the virus is trying to catch up.”explains Bart Lambrecht.
It is still too early to know if the flu will follow the same trend and be more virulent this winter. One thing is certain: whatever the virus circulating, it is recommended to always protect the most vulnerable people such as newborns and the elderly.
“If you have a cold, wear a mask when visiting other people or entertaining people. Or simply do not see them. Also, it is always recommended to wear a mask in the presence of someone brittle”concludes the pulmonologist.