Lockdown has led to this side effect in children

The effects of the COVID lockdown have been experienced by people of all ages. While the mental health of adults and adolescents has been impacted, children’s immune systems have taken a hit.

Children are being admitted to hospitals with up to three concurrent viral infections, new research finds.

According to The Washington Post, the report was created by researchers at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital in Connecticut and showed seven different viruses.

Photo by Vitolda Klein via Unsplash

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Children with two or three viruses were included with increased regularity. While COVID was among the reported illnesses, viruses such as adenovirus, rhinovirus, influenza and more also made an appearance.

Researchers explain that these numbers are not normal, especially considering the time of year we are in when the weather is getting warmer and there aren’t as many seasonal diseases. They argue that COVID lockdown measures may have had an impact on children’s immune systems, as home measures prevented them from building their defenses against common diseases.

“We have never seen a flu season extend into June in the United States,” said medical expert Dr. Yale’s Scott Roberts told CNBC. “Now that people have unmasked themselves, places are opening up, we’re seeing viruses behaving in very strange ways that they weren’t behaving before.”

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Roberts shared we’ve had below-average seasonal illnesses for the past two years, with experts attributing this to mask-wearing and social distancing measures. Now that masks are being used less across the country, we can expect strange behaviors from viruses and the re-emergence of obscure diseases like tuberculosis and monkeypox.