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0 pointsxadhominemx4y ago0 comments

> There’s no reason having parasites should make Covid-19 more severe

That is simply not true. Parasites do have an impact on the immune system and can amplify or reduce response to other pathogens. This is a very well known effect and an important area of study due to the prevalence of parasitic infections in tropical regions.

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alecst4y ago

Yea you're exactly right, and I think you've taken a stronger interpretation from that quoted part than what I intended. My point was that it's too early to jump to conclusions about parasites making Covid-19 more severe. But I do think that, if anything, the data points gently to the opposite conclusion.

> Recent studies have shown that helminth endemic countries showed fewer cases and deaths so far and helminth co-infection might reduce the severity of COVID-19.

from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/iid3.573.

Others:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34861106/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7430705/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33073203/

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