Dr. Byram Bridle, a professor of immunology with the Department of Pathobiology at U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College, spoke to The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. about whether extended quarantines might be harmful to children’s immune systems.

Bridle said he’s concerned that limiting children’s exposure to the natural world, as has been done often in the last year, could lead to a rise in immunological disorders in children. He noted that the immune systems of young children go through an important period of immune system development before they reach the age of six.

Bridle studies oncolytic viruses and has received provincial research funding to adapt technology to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.