> A buried story from last year is that nationwide there was exactly 1 confirmed child influenza death in the entire country. There was 200 the year before. It speaks to the disease prevention protocols being very effective.
Obviously, nobody wants children to die from influenza or COVID, but what are the long-term consequences of young immune systems receiving significantly less exposure to pathogens?
I find the hygiene hypothesis argument to be unconvincing. The notion that over sterilization leads to weaker immune response is plausible if not settled science. But it certainly seems the long-term outcomes in terms of life expectancy and quality of life come out heavily in favor of the sanitized and vaccinated life. Aside from the immediate benefit of fewer deaths due to acute illness, I bet there's a host of long-term syndromes akin to Long Covid that haven't been identified.
> But it certainly seems the long-term outcomes in terms of life expectancy and quality of life come out heavily in favor of the sanitized and vaccinated life.
For who?
As of October 6, according to CDC data[1], 181 children 0-4 and 406 children 5-18 have died from COVID. Obviously, all of these deaths are sad but it's also impossible to ignore how small these numbers are in terms of the overall population of children under the age of 18.
> Aside from the immediate benefit of fewer deaths due to acute illness, I bet there's a host of long-term syndromes akin to Long Covid that haven't been identified.
You bet? What evidence do you have to back up the suggestion that there are long-term syndromes in children that "haven't been identified"?
Isn't this the same argument put forth by some people opposed to vaccination -- that there might be long-term side effects we don't yet know about? So why would this argument be acceptable in promoting vaccination and restrictions but not in opposing vaccination?
I'm not specifically talking about covid vaccination but rather the general approach of disease avoidance.
But to that point we have very clear evidence that vaccines leave the body quickly and long term effects have been carefully studied and found to not exist for any vaccine ever. Conversely human DNA is littered with the remnants of eons if viral DNA. And as someone suffering the effects of a retrovirus (canker sores) it is well known that they can stick around for a lifetime. Not to mention the scar tissue of severe illness that can take years to heal.
Obviously, nobody wants children to die from influenza or COVID, but what are the long-term consequences of young immune systems receiving significantly less exposure to pathogens?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/opinion/sunday/covid-quar...