Social distancing and masks don’t weaken your immune system, experts say. Here’s why
No, physically distancing yourself from others and wearing masks will not weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to coronavirus infection, according to health experts.
That’s because there are still millions of mostly harmless bacteria living rent free in your homes that your body is constantly responding to. Add a couple million on your own skin.
“We’re constantly exposed to microbes,” Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, told the Associated Press Thursday. “Our immune system is always being triggered.”
And built-up immunity from childhood vaccines, as well as exposure to other viruses such as the common cold and seasonal flu, can’t disappear that quickly, Iwasaki added.
It’s a concept experts call the “hygiene hypothesis,” according to health staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It’s the idea that people exposed to a variety of germs during childhood are able to build better immunity to them and other pathogens.
Studies have shown this is the case with children immunity to allergies and autoimmune disorders such as asthma and inflammatory bowel disease, a 2012 study conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts found.
But the case differs with adults, experts say, who have already spent years fighting harmful bacteria and viruses, teaching their immune system to remove them as quickly as possible.
“Your immune system ‘remembers’ viral and bacterial markers, and as soon as one of these markers shows up, your body starts making antibodies to destroy that intruder,” the MIT experts said in May.
“Coming into contact with germs spurs an immune response, but it doesn’t do anything to make your immune system stronger,” they continued. “And this current period of contact with fewer germs does nothing to weaken the immune response you will be able to mount, as needed, in the future.”
Some activities, or lack thereof, that can weaken your immune system include poor sleep, lack of exercise, smoking, grief, anxiety, certain medications, low vitamin D levels, excessive alcohol, poor diet and too little time outdoors, according to WebMD.
Similar arguments have been made about masks early on in the pandemic. Some people thought the longer you wear a mask, the weaker your immune system will get.
Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, a primary care physician at Chatham Family Medicine in New Jersey, addressed the concerns in a May 10 YouTube video.
“During a pandemic when you need to shelter in place for a period or six to eight weeks, that is not gonna harm your immune system, either up or down, to the point where it’s gonna destroy your flora and now you can’t protect yourself from illness,” Varshavski said, USA Today reported.
“If that was the case, we would just not survive as humans as long as we have. “We still go to the grocery store, we still walk our dogs, we spend a little time in the park — that is more than enough exposure to bacteria that your body needs to function optimally.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Social distancing and masks don’t weaken your immune system, experts say. Here’s why."
