Post COVID immunity

[stargirl1701]

I caught COVID in October 2022. Since then I have noticed my immune response to colds has been much poorer that pre-COVID. It is now taking 4-6 weeks to recover rather than 4-6 days. I've been a primary school teacher for 25 years so well accustomed to catching various bugs!

The real point of this post is about my DC. They both had chicken pox whilst under 5. DD1 was very poorly with only a few spots whilst DD2 was a dot-to-dot puzzle. Her chicken pox was diagnosed by the GP.

This October school holiday has seen both DC catch chicken pox again. My understanding is that it really isn't something you catch twice?! They have both had COVID in 22/23.

Am I going mad? Has COVID reduced their immune response to this degree? What do you think? Is there any evidence/research to support my notion?

Both my siblings had chicken pox twice -39 years ago.
I only ever had it once, but getting it twice isn’t a new thing.

Were your vaccines up to date, OP?

Yes, all vaccines up to date.

The NHS seem to suggest catching chicken pox twice is rare. Both DC have had it twice.

That is really odd @stargirl1701 , I'd be wondering if there was any chance it had been misdiagnosed? As you say it can happen, just unusual.

Given pretty much all kids globally have had COVID at least once, I think it would have been detected by now if it was causing some kind of immunosuppression that was leading to repeat chickenpox infection though?

I also work in a school and have definitely noticed a pattern of children getting chickenpox shortly after having had covid - chickenpox used to be more seasonal, now we get cases cropping up throughout the year, like covid. So imo, which is obviously a small sample and not scientific, there is a definite link between covid lowering the immune system and kids getting chickenpox. I wouldn’t be surprised if this also translated into a slight increase in cases of children getting chickenpox more than once (we have had a few instances of that at school, but it is unusual). Either that, or chickenpox is being misdiagnosed and loads of kids get a rash exactly like chickenpox shortly after being off with covid. I think I also read somewhere that you are more likely to get chickenpox again if you first caught it under the age of 6 months?

You can get chickenpox up to 5 times but it’s rare (5 variants I believe). If you catch it for the first time before the age of 1 year you may not develop strong enough immunity. One of my DCs has had it 3 times (confirmed by GP each time); they were only 9 months old when they first had it and they were covered head to toe in spots then.

Strangely enough, I was wondering the same thing this week! I've had covid three times, quite mildly on each occasion. I have found recently that I and one of my DC (also covid x 3) seem to be getting more frequent coughs and colds - nothing serious, just annoying - and wondered if this was linked.

My DD has shingles this year - age 8! I’m fairly sure she had Covid just before. I think it does seem to deplete white blood cells for a while

Yes COVID damages the immune system.

Here's just one example of many, of the impact of COVID on the immune system of young children.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10582888/

In conclusion, our study supports that prior COVID-19 infection was associated with a significantly increased risk for RSV infection and may have been a driving force for the 2022 surge of severe paediatric RSV cases in the USA and this should be further investigated.

Although I completely agree that Covid really messes the immune system up one of my children has had chicken pox twice. First time was mild ish (but definitely chicken pox age 3) second time she got it was when her younger sister had it and it was more severe, age 5. This was all before Covid started.

You can definitely get chicken pox more than once, I know someone with an autoimmune disease who's had it three times. It's rare but not that rare, especially if you have it mildly or at a very young age.

I definitely feel like having Covid affects immunity afterwards, and for some months. Every time I've had Covid I've had an infection needing antibiotics within a few weeks (twice tonsillitis, once ear infection).

Hi OP,
Also a primary teacher of many years and also struggling to shift the usual colds and viruses post covid. It's depressing!