COVID infections tend to be milder in kids than adults but the reason why has been unclear Now researchers believe the body's immune response to frequent colds and other respiratory ills protects them against severe COVID Still, they say further study is needed WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Your children's never-ending colds and sniffles may have protected them from the worst effects of COVID-19, new research suggests. Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that the SARS-CoV-2 virus tends to cause less severe symptoms in than in adults, but it wasn't clear why. Based on a new analysis of nasal swabs taken during the pandemic, researchers now suspect that the immune system's inborn response to other viruses and bacteria helped head off severe COVID infection.
"Prior work suggested that heightened nasal innate immunity in children was due to intrinsic biological mechanisms inherent to their age," said senior study author , an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine. "But we thought it could also be due to the high burden of respiratory viruses and bacterial infections in children." The innate immune system is the body's front line of defense against bacteria and viruses.
While the body develops antibodies and more targeted immune responses, the innate immune system kicks into gear. It rapidly churns out anti-viral and pro-inflammatory proteins to fend off infection. To find out whether frequent respiratory infections boost nasal innate immunity, Foxman's tea.