# Are we lowering our immune systems by staying home? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 8, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402 "2020-05-08T12:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/21 "2020-05-08T22:04:47Z")
I would think that any weakening of the immune system caused by staying home for two months would be almost insignificant for most people. I’m concerned that this is fast becoming the new right wing talking point for reopening businesses WITHOUT social distancing. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/22 "2020-05-08T22:17:00Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am not an expert, but I think rather than lack of exposure to germs, our immune systems are more at risk by laying around on the couch gaining weight and not getting enough exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. Those things wouldn’t be good but I don’t know how they affect the immune system specifically. Thing is, I spend _more_ time now outdoors because I had to replace going to the gym with more walking. Our local authorities (NJ, USA) advise (not required) to actually stay indoors as much as possible but I doubt that’s actually necessary, especially given that a lot of people choose not to come out, so it’s easy to keep a safe distance from people on the street. Or to avoid places which attract crowds on nice warm days. The experts don’t seem to know enough to gtee almost anything about this disease, but my reading is that getting COVID from briefly passing other people several feet away, outdoors, is a very small to negligible risk. I don’t see a good reason to avoid normal exercise, fresh air and sun exposure, unless perhaps one has actual symptoms and/or positive test result. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/23 "2020-05-08T23:09:55Z")
When a spoon falls to the floor, lick it off. That should be sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/24 "2020-05-08T23:18:39Z")
> [@raspberry\_hunter](#): > > So I have a question: is there any possibility that exposure to other coronaviruses could help with fighting covid-19? I have heard that covid-19 is different from other coronaviruses in ways that would make this unlikely (is this true? are there citations?), but I also feel like this is one of the seventeen million things that no one knows about for sure. I know **DSeid** has speculated in other threads that this could be one of the reasons kids don’t generally get covid-19 as badly (although he concedes it is speculation). That’s an interesting idea, especially since the first “vaccination” for small pox was to deliberately infect people with the much milder cow pox. Let’s keep an eye out for research around this. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/25 "2020-05-09T00:16:37Z")
Read up on [making sourdough starter](https://www.feastingathome.com/sourdough-starter/) for bread. If that doesn’t give you a home science experiment to convince you that daily life is full of micro-beasties then nothing will. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/26 "2020-05-09T03:10:04Z")
> [@DaveRaver](#): > > Our bodies are used to touching surfaces and our immune systems develop defenses to the germs we touch. By staying inside, washing our hands and staying away from people, aren’t we all lowering our immune systems? Once everyone goes outside and starts touching surfaces, won’t lots of people get sick? No. This Plandemic stuff is ridiculous. Your house is full of the more common, conventional germs; it’s getting a good workout. Anyway, your immune system isn’t going to stop working because you aren’t meeting as many people for a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402/27 "2020-05-09T03:14:22Z")
> [@susan](#): > > When a spoon falls to the floor, lick it off. That should be sufficient. I saw a tweet the other day saying that the crisis was so extreme that health officials were recommending shortening the 5 second rule to 3 seconds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-lowering-our-immune-systems-by-staying-home/853402.md?page=1)