Impact of lockdown on immune system

[bathsh3ba]

Anecdotally in our family, we seem to be more prone to catching non-Covid bugs as lockdown has gone on. My daughter is on antibiotics for a throat infection (and they are working, suggesting it was bacterial not viral) and I've come down with my second ever ear infection in my life (I'm 37). The last one came 6 years ago at the end of a very messy separation and I wonder if lockdown is causing enough stress to impact immune systems.

Has anyone else found this and if so, isn't it a bit worrying that it could make people more susceptible to Covid when lockdown ends?

I have now found this article that supports the idea lockdown can harm our immune system. I don't understand why no-one is talking about this. Surely when lockdown is lifted we will all be more susceptible to coronavirus and other bugs?

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/27/does-really-mean-follow-science/

Touch wood seem to have experienced the opposite here as not been around anyone to catch anything from. DC not getting nursery bugs every few weeks is definitely one of the few positives.. DC2 in particular had seemed to have had a perpetually snotty nose for past few months and it cleared up a week into lockdown.

Not looking forward to the ambush on their immune systems when we return to civilisation though..

I haven't read the full article as haven't signed in, but I hope at least the fact they've been (literally) rolling around fields and in woods is exposing them to the good bacteria to which the article refers.

We have stayed home apart from local shop, one supermarket and walks in village but we are all very rarely ill and now we are and it doesn't match corona symptoms

I think being in lockdown will impact immunity to anything - and we'll all be more poorly once we come out of it - if we've stayed in and had no sunlight or exercise and experienced high levels of stress.

That's why it's important to exercise etc and people have been silly suggesting otherwise.

I also wonder whether by not meeting other people/mixing and picking up germs from each other we'll in some way be weaker. I don't know ...