# Covid is screwing up when flu and other viruses usually appear

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-is-screwing-up-when-flu-and-other-viruses-usually-appear/966262>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [June 15, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-is-screwing-up-when-flu-and-other-viruses-usually-appear/966262 "2022-06-15T21:21:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-is-screwing-up-when-flu-and-other-viruses-usually-appear/966262/1 "2022-06-15T21:21:35Z")

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An interesting article.

> **[Covid is making flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/13/covid-flu-rsv-viruses/)**
>
> Flu in the summer and RSV year-round: More than two years into the pandemic, familiar viruses are acting in unfamiliar ways.

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-is-screwing-up-when-flu-and-other-viruses-usually-appear/966262/2 "2022-06-15T21:42:03Z")

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Covid led to significant changes in human behavior that affects how other viruses and illnesses can be transmitted. Said pathogens are evolving in response. Evolution in action.

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**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-is-screwing-up-when-flu-and-other-viruses-usually-appear/966262/3 "2022-06-16T21:55:18Z")

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I think it’s simpler than that. A metaphor is a callus on your foot: if you hike every day, your feet have calluses and you mostly don’t get blisters. If you stop for two years and then resume your hiking, you’ll get blisters.

Similarly, frequent exposure to pathogens allows the body’s defenses to harden, so it mostly manages to fight them off. Remember that infection typically requires more than just one copy of the pathogen: you don’t get sick because a single COVID-19 virus goes up your nose: you get sick because a bunch do, and overwhelm your defenses.

Disclaimer: I am not a virologist, biologist, or anything like that. This is my understanding from a bunch of reading over the last two years.