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Dr. Yves Dour (pharmacist)
As the flu epidemic continues in France, it seems legitimate to wonder whether the immune system has not been weakened after two years of pandemic and barrier gestures. The point with the Doctor of Pharmacy Yves Dour.
Have the immune defenses been less effective in the face of an infection since the start of the pandemic?
Barrier gestures, measures taken to limit the circulation of the virus responsible for Covid-19, have inevitably led to a reduction in the body’s exposure to the various pathogens. In fact, the question that everyone can ask is whether the pandemic has weakened our immune system. According to Doctor of Pharmacy Yves Dour, the data “begin to appear in the scientific literature”, because after two years of pandemic, the experts may have a slight setback. It is clear that the epidemic of “gastroenteritis has been rampant this season and there has been little flu for two years, but there is a lot more talk about it these days”.
It is true that, as Yves Dour explains, “the scientific committees would tend to say that the body has not been exposed to viruses and bacteria for two winter periods and today, this favors a little the onset of gastro and flu symptoms”. Especially since the organization “having no more memory, he does not react as if he had always been exposed”.
Furthermore, “exposure of the body to pathogens sometimes leads to reactions that are a little more exacerbated than before. Before, we were more resistant, but today, by dint of disinfecting everything and eating less well, because the food is processed, the body reacts differently. It is less prone to being exposed to viruses and bacteria”, explains Yves Dour.
“Antibodies are the memory of past illnesses”
The body puts in place defense mechanisms to fight against infections and diseases. It is the immune system that intervenes mainly to protect it: “when the pathogen presents itself, it is recognized or not. If the body has already been exposed, it will search its memory for antibodies to fight the bacterial or viral disease.”, describes Doctor Dour.
In contrast, “if no exposure by vaccination or natural infection has yet taken place, the immune system develops an arsenal to neutralize the foreign particles that are inside”. The advantage is that it “keeps track and upon future exposure, the immune system remembers the RNA strands. It will then multiply its antibodies to fight against aggressive agents”.
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Some practical advice to strengthen the immune system
For Doctor Dour, the triggering of the immune defences”can go through vaccination”. For example, regarding the flu, “lpeople vaccinated for the flu are less affected, but it seems to affect more children and young adults”. On the other hand, taking vitamin C can be helpful, because “it is anti-infective”. Yves Dour also recommends taking probiotics, which is a “set of micro-organisms found, for the most part, naturally in the intestine and the human body. Probiotics improve the effectiveness of natural barriers”.