Puzzling findings: Does Covid-19 damage the immune system?
Experts warn that repeated coronavirus infections could make people more susceptible to illness in the long term. A search for clues in the jungle of findings.
Berlin Cough, runny nose, headache, fever and exhaustion – for weeks people in Germany and other countries have been plagued by a wave of respiratory diseases, which, at least before the turn of the year, were significantly stronger than in the years before the pandemic. The claim that repeated coronavirus infections could permanently damage the immune system can make you somewhat nervous.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said in an interview with the “Rheinische Post” that it was “worrying what we are seeing in people who have had multiple corona infections. The studies now show very clearly that those affected are dealing with an immune deficiency that can no longer be cured.”
Shortly thereafter, Lauterbach corrected himself, writing on Twitter about a “technical transmission error”, after which the interview was changed. Now it is said that after several corona infections, people “often have to deal with an immune deficiency whose duration we do not yet know”. Lauterbach emphasizes that the finding is “not yet certain”.
