At a time when scientists are racing to develop a Corona vaccine, the world is focusing on the influenza vaccine and its importance to mitigate the impact of the Covid 19 epidemic on the world, and with the entry of the winter season, both influenza and Corona virus pose a double threat this winter, but many researches confirmed that if you want to reduce the impact Coronavirus, get the flu vaccine first.
According to what was published by the site weforum Influenza and Corona are both viral diseases that spread primarily through the respiratory system, and with the return of cold weather to the northern hemisphere and more time being spent indoors, the risk of transmission of the two viruses will increase, and whether the next influenza season is severe or not, it will increase the pressure. On already burdened health systems.
Double risk of corona and influenza
Symptoms of both influenza and coronavirus include fever and cough (along with headache, muscle aches and fatigue) due to their similar clinical presentation, testing will be necessary to differentiate them in order to track their spread, as well as to ensure appropriate treatment.
Antivirals for influenza have not proven effective against corona; Meanwhile, there is a shortage of remdesivir, which can treat corona but not the flu.
Infections with both viruses are a potential risk, and both impair the body’s ability to fight pneumonia and other infections..
Wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands are our current arsenal against Corona, and these same measures will also reduce the spread of influenza.However, influenza vaccination should be a priority, not only for self and societal protection from influenza but to reduce the burden associated with influenza on health care systems..
Abram Wagner, a research assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, recently conducted an unpublished survey of people from around the world, including 881 Americans, on their vaccination plans in August and found that Americans who had contracted the flu in the previous year were more than 363% likely to get a flu shot again this year.
Most importantly, it was found that those who received the flu vaccine during the last flu season were 63% planning to get the Corona vaccine compared to those who did not..
Wagner said it would be understandable if some people wanted the flu vaccine but were still skeptical about the Corona vaccine.
After all, the influenza vaccine, unlike the vaccines that are currently being developed for COVID-19 , Has been tested in battle over many decades (although it usually changes each year to counteract the specific influenza viruses expected to circulate in a given season).
Does the flu vaccine protect you from Covid-19?
Wanted quartz Influenza occurs due to the influenza virus, while the Corona virus causes Covid 19, and the influenza vaccine can only prepare your immune system to face future influenza and reduce the risk of weakening your immune system to catch any other infection, such as: Corona.
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It has been observed that the two viruses cause many of the same symptoms. They both attack the airways and lungs, cause fever, sore throat and even vomiting and diarrhea.. (
The only symptom that does not usually overlap is the loss of smell, taste and toes associated with Covid-19However, this does not mean that it cannot happen to individuals with influenza.
There is sufficient risk in either of these infections alone; Global estimates are that influenza kills 389,000 people annually, and it has killed Covid-19 More than 742,000 people at the time of writing but the fear in the coming months is that a person could be infected with either two simultaneously, or one by one. Getting the flu vaccine as soon as possible will reduce the odds of this happening.
He said MeiLan Han Pulmonologist at the University of Michigan: “What worries me most is the damage to the respiratory system, if the flu or Covid-19 Significant damage to the lungs during one injury, and the organs do not have time to fully heal after this, as it may be difficult to fight a secondary infection.
A person who develops a relatively mild condition can develop Covid-19 To end up in the hospital if he catches the flu soon after, even if it usually does, he will be able to fight the flu at home.
This is dangerous for individuals, as well as for hospitals, which may have to cope with the burden of more patients. “When the prevalence of the Covid-19 virus rises in hospital, there is very little bandwidth to do anything else,” says Han. It’s also expensive: The American Hospital Association estimates that Covid-19 The American hospital system costs about $ 50.7 billion a month, and some of those hospitalized have been billed in the hundreds of thousands of dollars..
People at risk of severe flu cases interact with those at risk of complications Covid-19 Also. These people are elderly people, or people with pre-existing or immunocompromised diseases, and pregnant women. The only exception is children; Influenza can be more deadly in pediatric patients, however Covid-19 not like that. However, the children died due to Covid-19 , And they can spread the virus to others.
The only way to prevent any of these infections is vaccination with vaccines Covid-19 It’s still a work in progress however, flu vaccines are developed and distributed annually.
Each year, the World Health Organization estimates the ever-changing strains of influenza that are most likely to circulate, and assigns a vaccine to match (this year, it’s a mixture of three different strains).
Flu vaccines aren’t always 100% effective, but even a vaccine with about 40% effectiveness, like last year’s vaccines, can protect some people from getting sick, or help them fight infections more easily. This is especially important during a pandemic Covid-19.The sooner you get the flu shot, the less chance you will become seriously ill during the fall and winter seasons. It will also make it easier to get a vaccine Covid-19 When it becomes available; Soon, that will be realistic sometime next year.
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