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I had to look up "immune debt". I admit, not reading deeply about that phrase, but I think I get it. (It kind of fits with folks who make the case - We were all a lot (biologically) stronger when we used to eat dirt and drink water from streams. So we should embrace the disease - and - Get Stronger. (Am I on the right track?)

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Also - we weren't biologically stronger when we drank untreated water! We just had diarrhea all the times and babies died so often that many cultures refused to name them during the first month of their lives in case they passed away. (https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=jpps)

The big shift that started making humans sicker was the transition from the hunter gatherer lifestyle to agriculture. Forming up into settlements where we share all our germs was brutal to human health: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1186&context=nebanthro

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Dec 28, 2022·edited May 1, 2023Author

Immune debt gets used to mean a lot of things, so no wonder it's hard to google! Recently it's been used to describe the phenomenon of everyone getting sick lately. If it feels like everyone you know is ill, that's because they are. Hospitals and health facilities are completely swamped.

The immune debt hypothesis states that we're getting all the illnesses that we avoided in two years of masking and distancing so it's all catching up on us. It is not supported by any solid evidence, and it doesn't actually make much sense.

The research is starting to show that a COVID infection damages your immune system, making you much more likely to get sick with additional viruses or bacterial infections.

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