Hi ya'll! I first made this post here on the ECE Professionals subreddit, and someone in the comments mentioned people here might like to read it. I used to be an ECE teacher before leaving due to some health complications from immune issues. I’ve been learning a lot as I figure more out about my own health issues, and wanted to provide some info on the science behind why it seems like everyone is so much sicker than we used to be. I’ve also included some resources about what to do if you notice you’re having some immune issues yourself. I am new to the Science Based Parenting community, so please let me know if anything is breaking the rules or needs to be fixed. I’m also happy to provide sources to any claims with none linked.
As most people have noticed, childhood and adult illnesses have been way up since the start of the covid pandemic. Some people blame masks, saying that because our immune systems weren’t exposed to regular illnesses during masking they’re now making up for lost time, but we are two years out from widespread masking, and there is no solid evidence that after this long it would still be affecting our immunity. This “immunity debt” theory has been well debunked (info) (info). In actuality, the huge uptick we’re seeing in all kinds of illnesses is likely a sign of widespread immune damage due to covid.
We now know covid can do serious immune damage even if you are young, previously healthy, vaccinated, and had a mild initial infection (info). From a study released earlier this year, covid infections permanently damage T-Cells, a crucial type of white blood cell, in similar ways to HIV and Hepatitis-C. Covid is also causing lymphocytopenia in some people, a type of white blood cell damage that is also commonly associated with infections like HIV (info). Immune damage like this leads to greater susceptibility to infection, and is likely the reason we are seeing worldwide outbreaks of things like bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and fungal infections.
Not only does covid infection cause immune damage, but it can also damage every organ system in the body (info). Symptoms of lasting damage from covid, called long-covid, can include memory issues or brain fog, gut issues, joint pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, and more (info). These symptoms can start months to years after your initial infection. Covid infection also increases risk of diabetes, heart disease, blood clots, stroke, and Alzheimer’s, among many other conditions (info). In fact, in the first two years of the pandemic alone, heart attack deaths for American adults age 25-44 increased about 30% (info). Your risk of complications increases with each infection you get.
Long-Covid is known to impact at least 1/5 adults and at least 1/10 children who catch covid, although studies are now showing much higher rates as people continue to be reinfected (info). Professionals like teachers and doctors are coming down with long covid more than the general population, due to their high exposure. From this study, children have a 78% increased risk of a new health condition following covid infection, and this study showed evidence of blood vessel damage in every participating child with covid, regardless of infection severity. If you would like to know more about the health risks covid poses to children, this page has a large collection of sources. This page as well has a very good FAQ on the current state of covid for adults and children, with over 300 sources linked. You can also check out r/CovidLongHaulers for some first person stories of what it’s like to have long covid.
If you think you have some new health issues following covid infection, this page from Yale has information on what symptoms might look like and how to test and treat them. If you believe your immunity to illness has been affected by a covid infection (which can happen with or without other long-covid symptoms), you’ll need to get blood-work done to test for inflammation and autoimmune issues (info). Unfortunately, the blood markers that signal immune issues can be finicky, so it often takes multiple rounds of labs to catch anything. Autoimmune issues are notorious for not being taken seriously by doctors because they’re hard to test for and mostly affect women, so if you think you’re having immune issues the most important thing you can do is advocate for yourself and work to find a doctor who believes you. Many people are told for years their symptoms are nothing before they finally get proof (info).
If you would like to protect yourself and your classroom from covid, the two most important things you can do are to wear a well-fitted kn95 or n95 mask and to filter the air in your classroom. This article has good info on choosing a mask that will protect you, and this one has links to purchase them online. Here are instructions on making sure your mask fits you. Project N95 provides free masks, and many cities have independent organizations providing free or low cost masks, too. I get mine from the OSHA section of my local hardware store. To filter the air in your classroom, you will need a HEPA filter (which can run a few hundred bucks) or you will need a CR Box, which are much cheaper at about $75 and are super easy to make using a box fan and air filters. CR boxes can actually be more effective for air filtration than HEPA filters! There are some programs that provide free and low-cost CR boxes for classrooms, though I’m not sure where to find one that is active right now. I know some teachers have had success asking parents if they could help out with funding/building one for the classroom. Getting the updated vaccine is also important, as the original one no longer protects against the new variants circulating. Testing for covid regularly also help to prevent spread. Rapid tests are most accurate 4-5 days after symptom onset, and swabbing both your throat and nose can up the odds of an accurate test, if you do it correctly (instructions). Keep in mind that rapid tests were designed for the original variants and do not work as well to detect the new ones, so a negative result does not mean you don't have covid. Also, some new variants present with stomach issues, and don’t always have respiratory symptoms to go along with them. If you’ve got a stomach bug, it’s not a bad idea to test in a few days. If you do test positive on a rapid home test, it is a good idea to get a lab PCR test done as well, since insurance companies are turning down long-covid claims for people who don’t have lab records of being positive (info). It’s also a good idea to see if you qualify for paxlovid, which can decrease your risk of severe covid infection. Lastly, if you do catch covid it is important to rest as much as possible during your infection and in the weeks following. Pushing yourself too hard when you’re sick may increase your risk of long-covid (info). Many people report having mild symptoms initially, going back to work or exercising too soon, and tumbling into some pretty severe complications as a result.
Take care of yourself!
ETA: If you’re in the US, you can order 4 more free covid tests here: https://www.covid.gov/tests . Even if you don’t need them right now, it’s good to have some on hand since test supplies in stores get short when cases get high. It’s good to show the government there’s demand for them, too! The order form takes like 30 seconds.
You can find US testing sites here: https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites/index.html
Also, via @dale-everyheart in the comments on the r/ECEProfessionals post, you can get covid testing, free telehealth for covid, and free paxlovid if you test positive here: test2treat.org. I believe only Americans are eligible, but I’m not 100% sure.
ETA2: Free testing in some more countries, via @stormgirl on the r/ECEProfessionals post
New Zealand https://covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-isolation/covid-19-testing/how-to-get-a-covid-19-test/
Australia https://www.health.gov.au/topics/covid-19/testing#where-to-get-a-test
UK https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/cov...-get-a-free-covid-19-rapid-lateral-flow-test/
Ireland https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/
Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/public-hea...infection/symptoms/testing/diagnosing.html#a2
ETA 3: I appreciate all the questions and interest. Unfortunately, I’ve been having a pretty bad chronic illness flare-up that makes it hard to sit or stay awake, so I’m not able to answer questions as quickly as I wish I was. I plan of providing more info as often as I am able, though. I have seen questions about the idea that “everyone is sick all the time,” which is obviously hyperbole, but I do plan to provide sources for my claim that illness (along with illness severity and death) have risen since the onset of the pandemic. Maybe bookmark this post and check back in a few days.
I also saw some questions about how much scientific backing there is towards the claim of lasting immune damage from covid, and I have written a detailed response in this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceBasedParenting/s/JVkTjwrcXn
As most people have noticed, childhood and adult illnesses have been way up since the start of the covid pandemic. Some people blame masks, saying that because our immune systems weren’t exposed to regular illnesses during masking they’re now making up for lost time, but we are two years out from widespread masking, and there is no solid evidence that after this long it would still be affecting our immunity. This “immunity debt” theory has been well debunked (info) (info). In actuality, the huge uptick we’re seeing in all kinds of illnesses is likely a sign of widespread immune damage due to covid.
We now know covid can do serious immune damage even if you are young, previously healthy, vaccinated, and had a mild initial infection (info). From a study released earlier this year, covid infections permanently damage T-Cells, a crucial type of white blood cell, in similar ways to HIV and Hepatitis-C. Covid is also causing lymphocytopenia in some people, a type of white blood cell damage that is also commonly associated with infections like HIV (info). Immune damage like this leads to greater susceptibility to infection, and is likely the reason we are seeing worldwide outbreaks of things like bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and fungal infections.
Not only does covid infection cause immune damage, but it can also damage every organ system in the body (info). Symptoms of lasting damage from covid, called long-covid, can include memory issues or brain fog, gut issues, joint pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, and more (info). These symptoms can start months to years after your initial infection. Covid infection also increases risk of diabetes, heart disease, blood clots, stroke, and Alzheimer’s, among many other conditions (info). In fact, in the first two years of the pandemic alone, heart attack deaths for American adults age 25-44 increased about 30% (info). Your risk of complications increases with each infection you get.
Long-Covid is known to impact at least 1/5 adults and at least 1/10 children who catch covid, although studies are now showing much higher rates as people continue to be reinfected (info). Professionals like teachers and doctors are coming down with long covid more than the general population, due to their high exposure. From this study, children have a 78% increased risk of a new health condition following covid infection, and this study showed evidence of blood vessel damage in every participating child with covid, regardless of infection severity. If you would like to know more about the health risks covid poses to children, this page has a large collection of sources. This page as well has a very good FAQ on the current state of covid for adults and children, with over 300 sources linked. You can also check out r/CovidLongHaulers for some first person stories of what it’s like to have long covid.
If you think you have some new health issues following covid infection, this page from Yale has information on what symptoms might look like and how to test and treat them. If you believe your immunity to illness has been affected by a covid infection (which can happen with or without other long-covid symptoms), you’ll need to get blood-work done to test for inflammation and autoimmune issues (info). Unfortunately, the blood markers that signal immune issues can be finicky, so it often takes multiple rounds of labs to catch anything. Autoimmune issues are notorious for not being taken seriously by doctors because they’re hard to test for and mostly affect women, so if you think you’re having immune issues the most important thing you can do is advocate for yourself and work to find a doctor who believes you. Many people are told for years their symptoms are nothing before they finally get proof (info).
If you would like to protect yourself and your classroom from covid, the two most important things you can do are to wear a well-fitted kn95 or n95 mask and to filter the air in your classroom. This article has good info on choosing a mask that will protect you, and this one has links to purchase them online. Here are instructions on making sure your mask fits you. Project N95 provides free masks, and many cities have independent organizations providing free or low cost masks, too. I get mine from the OSHA section of my local hardware store. To filter the air in your classroom, you will need a HEPA filter (which can run a few hundred bucks) or you will need a CR Box, which are much cheaper at about $75 and are super easy to make using a box fan and air filters. CR boxes can actually be more effective for air filtration than HEPA filters! There are some programs that provide free and low-cost CR boxes for classrooms, though I’m not sure where to find one that is active right now. I know some teachers have had success asking parents if they could help out with funding/building one for the classroom. Getting the updated vaccine is also important, as the original one no longer protects against the new variants circulating. Testing for covid regularly also help to prevent spread. Rapid tests are most accurate 4-5 days after symptom onset, and swabbing both your throat and nose can up the odds of an accurate test, if you do it correctly (instructions). Keep in mind that rapid tests were designed for the original variants and do not work as well to detect the new ones, so a negative result does not mean you don't have covid. Also, some new variants present with stomach issues, and don’t always have respiratory symptoms to go along with them. If you’ve got a stomach bug, it’s not a bad idea to test in a few days. If you do test positive on a rapid home test, it is a good idea to get a lab PCR test done as well, since insurance companies are turning down long-covid claims for people who don’t have lab records of being positive (info). It’s also a good idea to see if you qualify for paxlovid, which can decrease your risk of severe covid infection. Lastly, if you do catch covid it is important to rest as much as possible during your infection and in the weeks following. Pushing yourself too hard when you’re sick may increase your risk of long-covid (info). Many people report having mild symptoms initially, going back to work or exercising too soon, and tumbling into some pretty severe complications as a result.
Take care of yourself!
ETA: If you’re in the US, you can order 4 more free covid tests here: https://www.covid.gov/tests . Even if you don’t need them right now, it’s good to have some on hand since test supplies in stores get short when cases get high. It’s good to show the government there’s demand for them, too! The order form takes like 30 seconds.
You can find US testing sites here: https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites/index.html
Also, via @dale-everyheart in the comments on the r/ECEProfessionals post, you can get covid testing, free telehealth for covid, and free paxlovid if you test positive here: test2treat.org. I believe only Americans are eligible, but I’m not 100% sure.
ETA2: Free testing in some more countries, via @stormgirl on the r/ECEProfessionals post
New Zealand https://covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-isolation/covid-19-testing/how-to-get-a-covid-19-test/
Australia https://www.health.gov.au/topics/covid-19/testing#where-to-get-a-test
UK https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/cov...-get-a-free-covid-19-rapid-lateral-flow-test/
Ireland https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/
Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/public-hea...infection/symptoms/testing/diagnosing.html#a2
ETA 3: I appreciate all the questions and interest. Unfortunately, I’ve been having a pretty bad chronic illness flare-up that makes it hard to sit or stay awake, so I’m not able to answer questions as quickly as I wish I was. I plan of providing more info as often as I am able, though. I have seen questions about the idea that “everyone is sick all the time,” which is obviously hyperbole, but I do plan to provide sources for my claim that illness (along with illness severity and death) have risen since the onset of the pandemic. Maybe bookmark this post and check back in a few days.
I also saw some questions about how much scientific backing there is towards the claim of lasting immune damage from covid, and I have written a detailed response in this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceBasedParenting/s/JVkTjwrcXn