Dr. Lisa Iannattone@lisa_iannattone
Oct 1, 2022
5 tweets
Immunity debt making the rounds again. So here’s my reminder that while there are viruses that are more severe if caught as a teen/adult (polio, chickenpox), that isn’t the case for respiratory viruses. There’s a mortality *benefit* from 1st RSV and flu infections being delayed.
So no, your toddler doesn’t need to catch all the viruses before the age of 2 to “build their immune system.” In fact it’s the opposite, infants and young toddlers are more at risk of hospitalization and death from many respiratory viruses at their age than older children.
You know how we’re asked not to give kids honey until they’re 1? Or how Health Canada has a whole list of unsafe foods for kids under 5? For many pathogens kids are *more* susceptible to severe outcomes when they’re very young. And there is benefit to delaying exposure.
This new (and very politically convenient) idea that it’s always best to catch pathogens very early in life “to build your immune system” can actually be quite dangerous when you take the time to think it all the way through. Stop blindly promoting “immunity debt” pseudoscience.
3 years ago I never would have believed that I’d one day see scientists/MDs promoting the idea that it’s *good* for infants and young toddlers to be exposed to dangerous respiratory viruses like flu and RSV instead of trying to delay those first infections, and yet here we are.
Dr. Lisa Iannattone
@lisa_iannattone
Assistant Professor of Dermatology @McGillMed. MD/residency @med_umontreal. Fellowship @HarvardDerm. Focus: complex medical dermatology and medical education.
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