Post Covid-lockdown disease surge tied to waning antibody levels

After Covid restrictions eased, respiratory illnesses like RSV and Strep A surged globally, with New Zealand scientists linking the rebound to waning immunity. While Covid measures protected many, they inadvertently left communities more vulnerable to resurgent infections, particularly affecting children and seniors..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..By Jason Gale___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Respiratory germs like RSV and Strep A surged across the world after Covid mitigation measures eased. Scientists in New Zealand blame waning antibody levels..Antibody responses in 150 regular blood donors were measured across the pandemic's first three years for immunity against a range of pathogens notorious for causing winter illnesses. While antibodies against the Covid-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus increased exponentially through March 2023 — reflecting vaccination and infection once New Zealand's borders re-opened — protection against Group A Streptococcus and respiratory syncytial virus ebbed..The decline reflected the bugs' reduced circulation in communities amid mask-wearing, travel bans, and social distancing, the New Zealand researchers said in a new study. While those strategies staved off Covid until most people were vaccinated, they precipitated a rebound in other respiratory pathogens — which circulated at higher levels, ultimately finding their way to more vulnerable people, said co-author Nikki Moreland, an associate professor in infection and immunity at the University of Auckland.."It's really an unintended consequence of the pandemic restrictions that we need to be aware of," Moreland said in an interview..RSV — which can cause severe respiratory infections, including pneumonia, in young children and seniors — resurged in late 2021 before SARS-CoV-2 began spreading widely in New Zealand, indicating that the epidemic was driven by a decline in population-level immunity rather than any Covid-induced immune impairment that some scientists have suggested. .Read also: .🔒FT – From Covid to cancer: BioNTech and Moderna's bet on personal vaccinesZuckerberg regrets Facebook's COVID censorship, says White House 'pressured' Meta to pull postsCovid's long, lethal tail: Australia faces 5% rise in mortality post-pandemic.© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Post Covid-lockdown disease surge tied to waning antibody levels

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