Now that businesses and communities are starting to open back up, there has been a reported uptick of numbers of covid cases, bringing for many a great deal of concern. Likely these rising numbers are partially due to increased availability of testing, but it is also due to the normal movement and interactions of individuals throughout their communities.
It is important, first of all, to understand that the vast majority of these cases are individuals with mild symptoms and illness that will resolve with minimal, if any, need for medical care. University of Pennsylvania’s, Donald Yealing, MD recently shared these sentiments: “We need to change our mindset and focus not exclusively on the number of cases, but on the severity of illness. We shouldn’t just be counting those who have a diagnosed infection”. “For the vast majority of people testing positive, their illness is mild, or they don’t even know they have symptoms of COVID-19 infection.” “In summary, our experience shows that fewer people are being admitted, and when they are, they tend to be much less sick than at the beginning or at the peak phases of the pandemic,” he said.
Despite this perspective, the media has focused largely on increasing numbers of cases, and state governors have begun ringing the alarm bells again. Some suggest that this increase in positive tests is a sign that we are in trouble again, and that there is a need for another move toward isolation and locking down.
I would argue the opposite. This is, from a broader way of thinking about our circumstances, exactly what we want to happen. The continued exposure among individuals throughout our communities is how our bodies will begin to develop a natural familiarity and likely immunity to this coronavirus. Let’s face it, this is nature’s tried and true way of helping communities adapt and grow resiliency to their changing and evolving microbial landscape. Just as we’ve developed a sustainable relationship with the cold virus, the flu virus, Epstein barr virus, and many others, our immune systems continue to adapt.
We live in and with a sea of microbes—more than you can possibly imagine, on and in every part of our bodies, and all around us in every ounce of soil, in the water and the air. We have co-evolved with bacteria, viruses and fungi over the millenia and they are largely to thank for our resilience and our adaptability to life on planet earth, to this very day.
The movement of these microbes throughout communities continues to be an important component of what keeps our immune systems educated, intelligent and versatile in the modern world. When we declare war on a singular microbe and go to all lengths to avoid contacting it, we do so at the expense of the normal movement and healthy relationship we have with the trillions of other microbes in our communities.
It is well known for example, that children who are raised in an extremely antiseptic environment or given too many rounds of antibiotics tend to display more health issues like allergies, asthma, and other immune-reactive conditions, including autoimmunity. Kids on the other hand, who are allowed to get dirty, interact normally with nature, other kids and animals, tend to have more well-educated and intelligent immune systems and are less likely to develop these conditions. The normal engagement with microbes continues to be essential for health into adulthood. This extensive relationship between humans and the microbial world is part of nature’s design.
Most have heard by now about the profound impact the healthy balance of the gut microbiome has on health. We know that our guts alone are home to trillions of bacteria, that when in balance, contribute to our physiological, mental, and emotional health in many ways. Given that over 70% of our immune systems reside in the lower digestive tract, the nature of this gut microflora has a tremendous and lifelong impact on the intelligence and versatility of our immune systems.
This leads to a concept that might not be as familiar. It is never a microbe (like a virus) alone that determines if someone is going to get sick. We know this to be true of many viruses, including the latest edition of the coronavirus family. We know that somewhere in the 40-50% range of people will not get sick or even know they’ve been exposed. Another 40-50% of people will get sick but it will be a self-limiting infection with similarities to a cold or flu infection. How is this possible if so many people have also died with a covid infection?
In epidemiology, there is a triad that considers that an infection requires three components—the external agent, (virus in this case) the environment, and a susceptible host. Our public health leadership has largely addressed the environment and the virus (call for isolation/lock downs / masks / distancing) but we have not given enough credence to all factors that make some of us more or less susceptible hosts.
We did learn early on that those who are elderly, those with existing conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, among other conditions, are the most likely to get seriously ill. Interestingly though, and unlike many other viral infections, kids are only rarely affected. We know these pre-existing health conditions are important risk factors for serious illness or death (as they are with almost all viral infections), but we have also learned that very actionable issues like vitamin D deficiency exist in many who die from covid infection.
Why then, have we not heard from our public health leadership about this important vitamin as a potentially effective preventative measure? Why is the news not trumpeting some of the most basic measures of self-care, measures that are completely safe with virtually zero risk of harm, and that have a pretty good chance of encouraging a healthy response when we come in contact with viruses?
How about encouragement to minimize intake of refined sugars? Taking steps to improve sleep and be more well rested? Drinking at least a few glasses of water every day and avoiding too much coffee and alcohol? Attending to all levels of self-care, especially stress and emotional turmoil, which can be a potent inhibitor of immune function. All of these basics mean that we become less susceptible “hosts” for serious infections, and have a greater likelihood to develop a natural immunity and healthy relationship with the microbial world around us and in us.
Our emotional and mental well-being has also suffered greatly with such a dramatic loss of human connection. We, in more ways than we realize, deeply rely on the mental emotional and spiritual reward that comes with human connection and relationship. And guess what– the joy that comes with human connection helps to create a hormonal landscape in our bodies that drastically contributes to our physical health as well. While stress, lack of sleep, anxiety and depression can act to inhibit our immune systems’ capacity to keep us healthy, the depth of emotional wellness that comes from human relationship has just the opposite effect.
While our governments and regulatory agencies scramble to manage all aspects of this virus, nature is quietly and persistently doing its thing, as always. From a holistic way of thinking, the best thing we could be doing right now is to take stellar care of ourselves, addressing underlying health conditions, ultimately taking steps that will decrease the likelihood of being a “susceptible host”. While this means care for our physical health and addressing existing health issues, it also means emotional care, and nourishing the relationships of friends and family around us.
Arguably this virus, like the unimaginable number of other microbes in and around us are not going away any time soon. Perhaps the best way to move forward through our current circumstances is to recognize that the natural exposure to and movement of microbes throughout our communities is the best way to resume a healthy and sustainable relationship with our environment.
© Joshua Phillips, ND 2020