Thursday, 7 December 2023 – 17:25 WIB
JAKARTA – The DKI Jakarta Health Service (Dinkes) has recorded an increase in positive cases of COVID-19 in Jakarta since November 2023. From 13 November 2023 to 3 December 2023, there has been a recorded increase in positive cases of up to 30-40 percent.
Simultaneously with the increasing number of COVID-19, currently several regions in Indonesia are also experiencing a season transition from dry to rainy or transitional season. During this time, various susceptible diseases appear and the most frequently encountered is flu. Scroll further, OK?
Far from being worse than seasonal flu, the impact of COVID-19 may be made worse by this disease. This is because a person can contract both infections at once, which can damage the immune system and increase the risk of more serious illnesses. In addition, medical facilities may be overwhelmed by people suffering from both diseases, potentially wreaking havoc on hospital capacity.
Because the flu and COVID-19 are both respiratory illnesses, there is speculation that having one makes a person more likely to contract the other and that having both at the same time may increase the chance of developing a more serious illness.
“We don’t know how the two interact, but maybe if you get both at the same time, it will be more difficult to survive. There will be a higher mortality rate than just one of the two alone,” said Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Medical Officer Emeritus of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, told Healthlinereleased Thursday 7 December 2023.
However, more research is still needed on the full dangers of having both diseases at once. Both diseases are contagious respiratory diseases, but the similarities end there.
Purnima Madhivanan, MBBS, MPH, PhD, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and Professor at the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, notes that although both diseases have also been linked to pneumonia, the way they damage the lungs is likely much different. Flu can cause fluid to build up in certain cells in the lungs, while COVID-19 is thought to attack the lungs by producing blood clots that expand in the blood vessels of the lungs.
“But there is not enough data to answer the question of whether the impact of the two diseases is cumulative, whether the risk of death is higher, or what. The development of both diseases may be different compared to when someone is affected by only one disease,” said Madhivanan.
There is some evidence that the common cold may provide protection against developing more serious cases of COVID-19. Madhivanan said it is possible that infection with some of the coronaviruses that cause the common cold may provide immunity in the form of memory T cells, which are produced in response to infection and can help the body fight similar infections. It’s also possible that the common cold makes a person less likely to contract the novel coronavirus.
As an effort to prevent these two diseases, vaccination is the best choice. Both influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations should be obtained immediately before becoming infected.
2023-12-07 10:25:38
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