“Viral infections may actually protect people from other viral infections - or bacterial infections - by stimulating immune responses, by keeping our innate immune system on its toes all the time, with these constant little pushes and nudges,” he says. Small studies from the beginning of the pandemic suggest having both the flu and Covid-19 is worse than having either alone.īut the worst-case scenarios might mask something profound about what often happens as our immune systems encounter viruses all day, every day, says Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The flu, for instance, is notorious for opening the door to bacterial pneumonia.
That’s because, she explains, situations in which simultaneous infections cause a worse prognosis are so much better known. Viral interference that protects people can be difficult to study and is generally overlooked, says Stacey Schultz-Cherry, an infectious disease researcher at St. The topic is not frequently discussed these days, though.
One 1950 review article even called it a “well-known fact” that having one virus could inhibit the growth of another. Over the next two centuries, scientists reported more and more situations in which it was clear that infections didn’t operate in a vacuum. It was as if having two active infections at once altered how the immune system responded. But if the patient had herpes, then it did not work as well. Inoculation involved infecting a person with the milder cowpox virus. Edward Jenner, the English doctor who helped develop the practice of inoculating against smallpox in the 18th century, noticed it. The idea that viruses might interfere with each other is old - as old as vaccination. Now viruses may merit a reexamination as well. They’ve been exploring how our health is shaped by the mix of beneficial and dangerous bacteria in our microbiomes. In recent years scientists have developed a much more sophisticated picture of what bacteria do to us and for us. Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences Learn More
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