Record Number of Parents Miss Work as Respiratory Illnesses Spike in Kids (arstechnica.com) 101
Respiratory illnesses are raging this fall, slamming children particularly hard. From a report: Cases of influenza-like illnesses are off to a startlingly strong and early start this season. RSV -- respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus -- continues to skyrocket. A stew of SARS-CoV-2 variants is still simmering in the background. And the rabble of usual cold-season viruses, such as rhinoviruses and enteroviruses, is also making the rounds. With the surge in infections, children's hospitals around the country have reported being at capacity or overwhelmed, as Ars has reported before.
But another effect of the crush of viruses is a squeeze on the workforce. As The Washington Post first reported Tuesday, the US broke its record last month for people missing work due to childcare problems -- such as having children home sick and childcare facilities or schools shuttered due to staffing shortages and sickness. In October, more than 100,000 employed Americans missed work for childcare-related problems, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is more missing workers than in any other month in recent records, including the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which many childcare facilities and schools closed down for extended periods. At the height of pandemic-related shutdowns in 2020, the number of Americans missing work for childcare problems only reached the low 90,000s.
But another effect of the crush of viruses is a squeeze on the workforce. As The Washington Post first reported Tuesday, the US broke its record last month for people missing work due to childcare problems -- such as having children home sick and childcare facilities or schools shuttered due to staffing shortages and sickness. In October, more than 100,000 employed Americans missed work for childcare-related problems, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is more missing workers than in any other month in recent records, including the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which many childcare facilities and schools closed down for extended periods. At the height of pandemic-related shutdowns in 2020, the number of Americans missing work for childcare problems only reached the low 90,000s.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Informative)
Not really, Sweden has the same problem but no mass quarantine, same for swizerland, but there are theories, that Covid fucks up your immune system for longer periods of time, which seem to get more and more attention and research results proving that.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they know something that western governments have been studiously ignoring [livescience.com]? Asking for a friend who does some bat research.
Re: (Score:1)
This is not true: here in Brazil this kind of disinformation occurred too (the main vaccine applied here was an Chinese [developed with several other countries, Brazil too]: CoronaVac - myself, for example, took the first two shots of this vaccine)
Re: (Score:2)
You replied to the wrong post somehow. Still, there's some truth in the Sinovac not being as effective. The Chinese vaccines were fine for the earliest variants, are definitely good and are definitely lots better than nothing even now. People's immunity is now waning and it's only the western vaccines which are being recommended for booster shots. See the WHO information page [who.int] and compare, for example, the numbers from the CoronVac Wikipedia page [wikipedia.org] with those from the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine pag
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe, but the Chinese vaccines are reputed to be less effective than the Western developed vaccines. So they may have no choice to but quarantine. What makes it difficult is that Xi Jinping has decided that countering Covid is a measurement of his...abilities, which are minimal. Being the Chief of the Kleptocrats of the CCP isn't exactly a masters course in government management.
Re: (Score:1)
This is not true: here in Brazil this kind of disinformation occurred too (the main vaccine applied here was an Chinese [developed with several other countries, Brazil too]: CoronaVac - myself, for example, took the first two shots of this vaccine)
* commented in wrong post (sorrry)
Re: (Score:1)
tl;dr:
Effectiveness against severe or fatal disease when compared with BioNTech/Pfizer: one doses of Sinovac didn't do as well with older patients; two doses did a bit better (except with 80+); but at three doses, the effectiveness is comparable.
Re: (Score:2)
That makes a lot of sense. My boss has ghad covid 2x (really unlucky, she got the first before vaccines were available) and she has had more trouble than normal with some other infections this year.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Switzerland didn't have mass quarantine but a lot distancing measures were imposed.
Similarly, Sweden might not have mandaten all that many measures but Swedes are really good at following their government's suggestions.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah but schools were never closed and generally spoken this is a lame exuse because people did not lock themselves in without any contacts.
On the other hand there has been research coming out which shows how a covid infection among other things really can mess up your bodies T-Cells and that can be proven be numbers.
The only thing all those countries have in common is a mass infection of mostly unvaccinated kids, several times several waves with a potentially organ and immune system damaging virus.
So here
Re: (Score:2)
Also Sweden never imposed masks in schools, heck they only had mask recommendations for public transport thats all there is to it.
But yet again Japan fares better with deaths etc.. than the west because they use mask and they did not have rising RSV numbers in the past because they were masking up.
The immune debt mumbo jumbo does not add up if you look on a worldwide scale, the immunity destruction by a virus holds up way more likely than anything else!
Especially given that kids are affected which should ha
Re: (Score:2)
Countries where the population generally trusted their government did a lot better in the pandemic.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
COVID seems to weaken the immune system, and in some cases cause auto immune conditions like ME/CFS. Long COVID seems to be that plus in some cases lasting respiratory system damage.
There is no treatment for any of it.
Re: Wow (Score:2)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Most kids catch RSV at some point before they turn 2, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, and itâ(TM)s usually mild. Symptoms may look like a common cold and include runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing. They typically last a week or two, and clear up with rest and fluids.
There is no such thing as "natural immunity". If you catch something, even a mild case, your immunity didn't work, did it? That's the argument you whiners like to use for vaccines. In other words, your immunity DOES NOT PREVENT you from contracting something.
These kids would have gotten RSV regardless of anything else. It is only the timing which is unusual.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Lol, .But the lockdowns!
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
There was one. It was causing problems, so they stopped using it, and there's at least one more in the pipe expected to be approved by next year.
Re: (Score:2)
It's almost like I stated that natural immunity(Yes Virginia, natural immunity comes from already having had the virus)
"Natural" vs vaccine induced immunity it just your immune system reacting to a slightly different pathogen. The only substantial difference is that "natural immunity" requires you to first get COVID... which is the thing you're trying to avoid in the first place.
acted as a firebreak so that everyone didn't get it AT THE SAME TIME. COVID lockdowns removed that firebreak, and so it's spreading through communities with no resistance.
That... doesn't make sense.
The point of COVID lockdowns was to create a firebreak so that everyone didn't get it at the same time. That's why you got insanely high death rates in Wuhan, Italy, and NYC early in the pandemic.
There's arguments that loc
Re: (Score:1)
"The only substanital difference"
No Virginia, natural immunity acquires a randomized set of traits of the virus to act as a fingerprint for your body to respond to if it shows up again. Whereas the mRNA shot only concerned itself with the spike proteins and that is what your body takes a fingerprint of. This is why everyone who caught COVID has a superior immune response and shuts down the variants faster and harder, whereas the mRNA shots are only truly effective to the variant they were designed for.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
People who got the vaccine still got covid.
However, they tended to get a less severe case.
Once they got covid, whether or not they had the vaccine, they had that natural immunity you were talking about — with a lesser chance of serious effects.
Which part of this do you find confusing?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
only those with multiple comorbidities get symptoms
You are either lying, or spectacularly ignorant. There is no third option.
Re: (Score:3)
This is beyond parody. When did you ridiculous anti-vaxxers become pro-disease?
Re: (Score:1)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity".
Your ignorance is astonishing. Here is how CDCM [cdc.gov] defines this: "Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease."
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity".
Your ignorance is astonishing. Here is how CDCM [cdc.gov] defines this: "Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease."
So how does this spare you from catching the disease, and potentially dying from it, if you have to catch the disease first?
Re: (Score:1)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity".
Your ignorance is astonishing. Here is how CDCM [cdc.gov] defines this: "Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease."
So how does this spare you from catching the disease, and potentially dying from it, if you have to catch the disease first?
It's natural, ergo, it's better [wikipedia.org].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity".
Your ignorance is astonishing. Here is how CDCM [cdc.gov] defines this: "Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease."
So how does this spare you from catching the disease, and potentially dying from it, if you have to catch the disease first?
Are you expecting to never catch COVID because you are vaccinated? Such view is a false hope not supported by data.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not sure you understand what the word "immunity" means, and therefore do not understand the function of a vaccine.
But I can help.
im-mu-ni-ty
"the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitized white blood cells"
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity". If you catch something, even a mild case, your immunity didn't work, did it?
I agree with the thrust of your argument in general, in that vaccination is helpful, but this is fundamentally incorrect. Immunity does not mean you cannot get something. It seems like it should, but it doesn't. It means you're resistant to something. As such, you do have natural immunity even to things you eventually get a serious case of. I know, I thought it meant you couldn't get something, but I was wrong.
Again, I'm pro-vaccine as it confers a far greater immunity before exposure so that infections tend to be less severe even when you are infected. But literally the only thing a vaccination can do is reduce severity of an infection, because all it's doing is training your immune system to react to something once it is inside your system. By definition, it doesn't do anything for you until you have already been infected.
Natural Immunity (Score:5, Informative)
There is no such thing as "natural immunity".
Yes there is - natural immunity is something you get from being exposed to a virus and having your immune system fight it off. Before vaccines, that is how everyone developed immunity.
If you catch something, even a mild case, your immunity didn't work, did it?
Again that's not true. For example, while the current covid vaccines don't give great protection from getting ill with the current strains of Covid-19 the training they provide your immune system means that you are far, far less likely to get seriously ill than you would have had you never had the vaccine.
What seems to have happened here is that the usual circulating viruses have had two years of mutating to get around the immunity we all acquired (naturally) to their ancestors plus our immune systems have had two years without exposure to them which reduces the number of circulating anti-bodies: which is exactly what we have seen with Covid-19 and why we keep being told to get boosters. So we are going to have a nasty flu season until our immune systems have got up to speed again against the new variants of old foes.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes there is - natural immunity is something you get from being exposed to a virus and having your immune system fight it off. Before vaccines, that is how everyone developed immunity.
Well, that was one part, unfortunately the other part of it was natural selection and selection of traits that were resistant. In other words: a lot of people died, some people developed some immunity directly and survived, some people had genetic mutations that proved beneficial to either resisting the virus directly or to helping the immune system handle it and survived, even if it could cause other problems (for example: the trait for sickle cell and it's relation to malaria). For both those components,
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
If reduced human contact for a year completely boxes your immune system, you were not healthy to begin with.
What's more likely, is because we didn't lock down properly and instead forced students to go to school and adults to go to work, and generally eschewed basic precautions (in some cases literally banning the use of masks), far more people were exposed to COVID than would have been.
Even if the symptoms were mild to nonexistant, it's possible there is still some amount of damage that could make one more susceptible to further infections.
"Long COVID" is a very real thing and we'll likely be dealing with it for generations. This could be part of it.
=Smidge=
Re: (Score:2)
(in some cases literally banning the use of masks)
You got me curious ... when/where was the use of masks banned?
I know that "mask mandates" have been banned in some cases, that is, in some cases a place could not require mask use, but that's not the same as banning mask use. Admittedly, I didn't/don't keep up with the news very well. I guess early on in the pandemic I heard of a bar in Wyoming that wouldn't allow masks, maybe that is what you are referring to, a local business banning mask use?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
Still significant lockdowns for Omicron last year and not all kids acquire RSV even when there is an epidemic, the effects of lockdowns will drag on a couple of years on acquired immunity effects of other fall/winter diseases.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually I just got data in from Swizerland which basically never really closed anything after the initial lockdown and from Japan, which still masks, guess which country does not have RSV overflooding childrens hospitals. Answer Swizerland is full and overflowing, while Japan is pretty much like the years before the pandemic, yes RSV cases are there, but the system can handle it the usual way.
This basically just is another small stone which proofs Dr. Leonardis theory, that we run into a widespread immune
Re: (Score:2)
Nope. Just a bit more this year, but better overall than without quarantine. You should really stop pushing your demented political ideas at the cost of other people's lives. It makes you scum.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
It's almost as if mass quarantine completely fucked with their immune systems by stopping regular exposure to viruses which otherwise would have little effect due to natural immunity acting as a firebreak throughout a community.
Kids have been back to school for over a year now. We're heading into flu season for the second year of being back in school, they've already had an entire year back in school since the quarantine days, so what are you even talking about?
If you want to play stupid assumptions, how about this blast from the past "The cases are only high because they're measuring it more often, so stop measuring it", go suck on that egg.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Insightful)
This IS effect of COVID lockdowns, when infections that would be staggered now occurred all at once and there is lower level of natural immunity in the population making R higher than it would normally be.
What a load of horseshit.
Answer me this, oh master of public heath, why didn't this happen last school year? You know, the first full school year after the so-called "lockdowns"? Get a clue.
Re: (Score:2)
More likely it's that no one is wearing masks any more.
Re: (Score:3)
You mean worst affected group being children who could not get a covid jab?
Yes there is a correllation getting covid unprotected raises your chances to fuck up your immune system.
Re: (Score:2)
I would love to see the correlation between RSV and having received the COVID jab. But, if there is one, it will be hidden from the public.
You're far more likely to find meaning correlation and actual causality between the decrease in mask use and the increase in transmission of respiratory illnesses.
Re: (Score:2)
By the way, the problem is especially acute among children, and that cohort ha not been vaccinated for COVID to as great an extent as adults.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Country of the free, country of the stupid. Not my country. (Well, increasingly not my instance of the human race, but that is a different matter.)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
My body my choice! Wait are we talking about vaccines or abortions here as that phrase only applies to one.
Re: Antivax country... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Did I miss something and they suddenly came up with a vaccine for RSV?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Just to be up front about it, I got the Pfizer shots and a booster.
With that being said...more and more is coming out that the covid vaccine isn't all that.
Even the CDC is saying that it doesn't prevent catching covid or transmitting it.
It does seem to help keep the disease from being life threatening in those that are susceptible to it...but again, it appears most folks in
Re: (Score:1)
Well, that and you are completely fucking yourself with regards to your education and your future. Way to go!
Re: (Score:1)
It's spam, genius.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, obviously. So?
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously? To most people, sure, but not to you. If you had thought it was 'obvious', you wouldn't have replied to the clearly automated message as though it were a person. You would have clicked the little flag, typed "spam" in the box, and clicked 'Report' like a normal person.
Instead, you decided to carefully consider the claims made and craft a reply you thought was witty, with some biting sarcasm at the end that could only be intended to hurt the computer programs feelings.
The only thing obvious her
Re: (Score:2)
Hahaha, no. First, it was exceptionally obvious this was spam. Second, _why_ would I not have responded to it? This is publicly visible and so is my comment. Maybe you are not capable of understanding the implications of that? Here is a hint: There is something called an "audience" and we all play to it here. Also, it seems /. does not remove spam, at least I have seen several instances over the last couple of weeks that were still there.
Seriously, your "conclusion" just demonstrates your own limitations, n
Re: (Score:2)
_why_ would I not have responded to it?
What kind of moron responds to spam?
There is something called an "audience" and we all play to it here.
We also have systems in place to deal with spam. The moderation system, for example. This garbage was already at -1. Your post elevated the spam from obscurity.. I've already explained the reporting system to you, which is how you deal with this sort of nonsense when you don't have mod points.
You can pretend all you want that you knew you were responding to spam, but for that to be true, you'd need to either know nothing about how Slashdot works or were personally int
In fairness, I always blame the kids... (Score:1)
Oh, this job fucking sucks? I can say I need to work from home and won't be available from noon to 4 for "personal time" while I go on an interview...or I can sa
Yep (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
With men getting the same level of maternity leave as women now it's only getting worse.
Re: (Score:2)
Thank you for voluntarily removing yourself from the gene pool! This is the single greatest contribution you could make the the future of the human race.
Re: (Score:1)
Even the government subsidizes kids. Mostly this is because the entire economy is based on continuous growth and would come crashing down like a lead balloon* if people stopped popping out enough kids.
* I used this idiom on purpose, because it's actually possible to make a lead balloon float [youtube.com] - just as it is also technically possible to have an economy that doesn't require unending population growth.
Re: (Score:1)
Why does Tektronix pay twice as much for healthcare for people with families than they do for single people like me?
When you are 80 and trying to collect social security you'll be damn glad for what kids there are today
GOOD! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Rebecca Watson over on Youtube (Score:5, Interesting)
It is *not* "immunity debt". That has been debunked. Getting sick doesn't make your immune system stronger. If anything it can make things worse. Exposure to beneficial microbes is what helps your immune system. You don't want a "strong" immune system, you want a balanced one. A "strong" immune system is called "allergies" and in a worst case it can kill you.
Not Strength, Preparedness (Score:5, Interesting)
Getting sick doesn't make your immune system stronger.
True, but it does make your immune system better trained to rapidly fight off a new infection of the same virus either without getting ill or at least showing much milder symptoms. However, over time the preparations your immune system made to be ready to fight off another infection decrease which is why we keep having to get boosters for covid to keep reminding the immune system to keep its defences up.
Now, if you remove someone from an environment where a particular virus is circulating for a year or two then their immune system may well start to drop its defences again that virus. Whether it does this depends on the virus - some vaccines give life-long immunity like the TB or measles vaccines others have far shorter effective times and you have to get boosters like tetantus, flu and covid.
It does not mean that some of the issue may be due to Covid suppressing the immune system. However, as I understand it, our response to cold and flu viruses is like our response to covid i.e. not a long-lasting one so if we have had little to no exposure to these viruses for well over a year it seems likely that our immune systems will have lowered their defenses against them somewhat plus these viruses have had two years to mutate to get around our defences so I do not see how these effects can be neglected.
Re: Not Strength, Preparedness (Score:3)
I agree. The first winter I moved to London was horrendous for colds, and when my first child started nursery I even managed to get hand foot and mouth along with endless weird respiratory bugs. Subsequent winters were much better. Itâ(TM)s obvious that the same thing is playing out after the disruptions from lockdowns/travel restrictions.
rlsilvergun has been advocating for more lockdowns since the pandemic began. Heâ(TM)s just digging in this position further. I think the initial lockdowns were
I stopped advocating or lockdowns (Score:1)
How many kids are we gonna put in th
Only for that specific infection (Score:2)
The immune system isn't "dropping it's defenses" if you're not getting the virus. The defenses are
Go look up the Rebecca Watson video (Score:2)
Don't gotta tell me that! (Score:2)
Almost there... almost there... (Score:4, Insightful)
Now if we can get good strong wave of pertussis, and maybe a small-but-significant run of polio, we'll collectively remember why vaccines are good.
It's also hitting adults, though not as severe (Score:2)
I had to do a run of antibiotics as it was beginning to turn into a sinus infection - yes it is a virus, this is a normal progression for some people with primary immune deficiency.