Wear Your F%$#ing Mask

First, we have a couple of studies showing that COVID-19 causes long term impairment of its victims' immune system, in particular serum cytokine levels.

Conclusion from the first link:

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According to the researchers, the long-term consequences of COVID-19 are presumably caused by an infection and the resulting long-term impairment of the function of the bone marrow, the central production site of immune cells. "Our results provide a possible explanation that certain long-term consequences of COVID-19 could be related to the damage to the cellular immune system caused by SARS-CoV-2 and the apparently reduced maturation and/or emigration of immune cells from the bone marrow," Winfried Pickl and Rudolf Valenta summarize the study results. This hypothesis forms the basis for further research in order to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying Long-COVID.

And the second link: 

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Whole blood flow cytometric analyses revealed that 10 m after COVID-19, convalescent patients compared to controls had reduced absolute granulocyte, monocyte, and lymphocyte counts, involving T, B, and NK cells, in particular CD3⁺CD45RA⁺CD62L⁺CD31⁺ recent thymic emigrant T cells and non-class-switched CD19⁺IgD⁺CD27⁺ memory B cells. Cellular changes were associated with a reversal from Th1- to Th2-dominated serum cytokine patterns. Strong declines of NC- and S-specific antibody levels were associated with younger age (by 10.3 years, p < .01) and fewer CD3⁻CD56⁺ NK and CD19⁺CD27⁺ B memory cells. Changes of T-cell subsets at 10 m such as normalization of effector and Treg numbers, decline of RTE, and increase of central memory T cell numbers were independent of antibody decline pattern.

And if that ain't enough, it looks like Covid is associated with a massive increase in type-1 diabetes among children, which is rather unsurprising, since juvenile diabetes is associated with immune dysfunction:

COVID-19 may accelerate progression of presymptomatic type 1 diabetes in youth, a German study suggested.

Incidence of clinical type 1 diabetes nearly doubled after the pandemic started among 591 youth ages 1 to 16 known to have presymptomatic type 1 diabetes, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, MD, of the Institute of Diabetes Research at Helmholtz Munich in Neuherberg, Germany, and colleagues wrote in a JAMA research letter.

During the prepandemic period, the incidence rate for clinical type 1 diabetes development was 6.4 (95% CI 4.9-8.2) per 100 person-years, compared with 12.1 (95% CI 10.1-14.4) in the pandemic period (P<0.001).

"A key question was whether this increase was predominantly in those children who had been infected," Ziegler told MedPage Today. "The answer was yes."

Of the 353 kids that had COVID infection information, the incidence rate was 8.6 per 100 person-years (95% CI 6.2-11.7) for participants testing negative for COVID-19. This wasn't significantly different compared with the prepandemic period (P=0.16).

When people say that Covid doesn't effect children, they are either stupid, or lying, or both.

H/t E-Cop at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.