The British in their The Guardian today worried about people locked in quarantines. Type without microbes dear to heart in isolation will be bad.
We constantly exchange germs with other people. You don't even have to kiss for that. People around you smear their snot and drool on door handles and other surfaces at every step.
In 1989, epidemiologist David Strachan proposed the so-called hygiene hypothesis. That is, if in childhood it is not enough to mess around in the mud, then the immunity will not work correctly, and allergic diseases will be more common.
This hypothesis has always been controversial, especially considering that people only a hundred years ago began to wash their hands and get less sick with dysentery. Before that, they simply died.
Now people wash their hands and rub them with a sanitizer so often that many again remembered the hygiene hypothesis.
About twenty years ago, the so-called "theory of old friends" appeared. The point is that we need to constantly be in contact with microbes that normally surround us all our lives. They will be for our immunity like a harmless punching bag. If the pugnacious immunity has no one to let off steam, then he will arrange some kind of allergy for us.
The hygienic hypothesis was based on an infection that can actually be sick. But the theory of old friends speaks more about harmless microbes from our usual environment.
It is believed that an adult has already gained a full set of microbial friends with whom a long time ago I figured out the relationship, and now even if you sit in self-isolation for a year, then it's okay will not happen.
Kids
With children, it's a little different story. If they are locked up, without contact with the outside world, dirt from the sandbox or infection from the school cafeteria, then they may have problems with immunity.
It is clear that before children could ask for all the holidays at home without much harm to their health. But now some have to sit for a year.
It is said that the most important period is from birth to about six years of age. And this is also taking into account the fact that children are no longer always allowed into our world through the birth canal of the mother, where they have a chance to get a portion of the necessary microbes.
They also say that not everything is so bad, and some children, during self-isolation, even more often went to parks than in a peaceful life. Or they started buying puppies more often, so that they would not be bored at home. There is a lot of useful dirt from puppies too.
It may be too early to be hysterical about this. Let's wait a few years, and then we'll see.
Seasonal cold
Last year, the Chinese were released from self-isolation in the fall, and then they were very sick with the common cold. If people are released in the warm season, then many manage to avoid seasonal viruses.
What to do with it all
We must continue to walk more in nature, eat vegetables and fruits, and exercise. It is always good for the immune system.
Well, it is clear that there is no need to specially breed dirt at home. The floor and hands should be washed. Otherwise, instead of a cold, dysentery will attack you.
There is also an opinion that it is necessary to adhere to the planned vaccination calendar in peacetime. Because any vaccines nonspecifically train the immune system.
After Sputnik, I was vaccinated in pursuit of tick-borne encephalitis.
