cold?It can protect you from other viruses, but only a little

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Infectious disease experts say that having one virus, like the common cold, can keep others at bay.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is Stabilization nationwide and Influenza is ragingaccording to Public Health Canada.

Canadians are socializing again and traveling freely. With people mingling with each other, scientists have a rare opportunity to observe how the different respiratory pathogens we carry interact after the pandemic.

To date, most viral research has focused on one pathogen at a time, whether in individual patients or entire populations.

Let’s take a look at the early science on why multiple viruses don’t hit adults at the same time and who is more susceptible to the double or triple hit.

Viruses trigger immune defenses

The idea that viruses interfere with each other has been debated since the 1960s, but the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic gave scientists further clues about it.

Dr. Guy Boivin, a virologist and professor of pediatrics at Laval University in Quebec City, wrote: Commentary Earlier this year, we reviewed evidence for viral interference — competition between respiratory viruses interfering or blocking each other’s spread.

“It is worth noting that [H1N1 flu] The pandemic virus broke out in France two to three months after it broke out in other European countries,” Boivin said. This small epidemic of rhinovirus delayed his H1N1 virus pandemic in France. ”

Rhinovirus is a type of cold virus.

As for waves of different respiratory infections, including COVID, RSV and the flu epidemic in Canada, Boivin said he expects some overlap. However, we also believe that detecting one bug may provide short-term protection against other viruses, so it is unlikely that they will all peak at the same time.

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Dr. Ellen Foxman, an immunologist at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, studies antiviral defenses in her lab. Methods of viral interference happen.

“Having one virus activates the body’s antiviral defenses,” Foxman said. “It can also protect against other viruses, at least for a short time.”

Foxman says that having one infection may make you less likely to get another at the same time.For example, human airway tissue infected with rhinovirus And even if the H1N1 flu were introduced a few days later, the flu virus wouldn’t multiply.

“That was because the defenses that the tissue turned on in response to the rhinovirus also protected against the flu,” Foxman said.

She is currently investigating interference between the virus that causes COVID-19 and other viruses in human respiratory tract samples in the lab.

temporary protection

Foxman said that upon sensing an intruder, the lining of the respiratory tract goes into a state of antiviral defense.

Guard defense is one of several protective layers in the immune system. One, called interferons, is a family of proteins produced by the body’s immune system in response to an invading viral infection.

As the name suggests, interferon interferes or blocks the ability of a virus to achieve its raison d’etre by making copies of itself.

Instead, interferon summons immune cells to the site of invasion, allowing them to take up arms against the threat.

But interferon doesn’t stay active for long, cautioned Allison McGear, PhD, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health System in Toronto.

“Most viruses have no effect, not much,” McGeer said.

The opposite is also possible. Some people are double infected or co-infected, that is, he gets two or more bugs at the same time.

It is not well understood why this is so, and the extent to which it occurs is not yet known. explored.

McGeer said “not uncommon” co-infections occur among hospitalized children.

Multiple co-infections in babies

Emily Doré’s six-week-old son, Diego, was one of them. “My mother’s instincts told me it was a bad cold for a baby too small and too young,” Dre recalled.

After her two-year-old daughter fell ill, Dre was paying attention to her baby’s symptoms. At first, the baby was slightly congested, followed by coughing, followed by lethargy and fever.

The Montreal mother said, “I think the most upsetting and worrying part was when I had to be hooked up to oxygen because I was having trouble breathing.

When there was no recovery, Diego underwent a lumbar or spinal tap procedure. Tests suggested he might have RSV, rhinovirus, enterovirus, another common cold virus, and meningitis.

He recovered after four days of hospitalization and is now eight weeks old.

At the population level, virologists say other factors also play a role, including human behavior in different age groups, population immunity, environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, and what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. increase. The Triple Threat of Virus Spread.

Each individual wave of the virus can still make individuals sick and increase demand on emergency departments and primary care services as they struggle with staffing shortages and backlogs.

Dr. Gerald Evans, director of infectious diseases at Queen’s University and Kingston Health Science Center, said three viruses could emerge when hospitalized people are now tested for respiratory infections. rice field.

“We’re starting to pick up small signals that people can get both the flu and COVID, and we’re certainly seeing flu and RSV show up in children.

“So the impact of that co-infection still needs to be figured out. We’re looking at it. It’s a small number.”