[ad_1]
As the southern hemisphere approaches winter, virologists are concerned about the upcoming influenza season. This may make more people need medical attention for the flu, including hospitalization, while the health system is still fighting coronavirus. This may tip the pendulum in favor of SARS-CoV-2 by making it difficult to control the pandemic, especially in Africa, which has had the fewest cases so far.
Influenza epidemics occur in late autumn and winter, between May and August, in the southern hemisphere and during the rainy season, which can be year-round in the tropics.
Most people who get the flu have only a mild illness: fever, cough (usually dry), headache, muscle and joint pain, severe discomfort (malaise), sore throat, and runny nose. But the flu can also cause more serious illness. This includes diseases of the lower respiratory tract that cause difficulty breathing, such as bronchitis or pneumonia. These conditions may require hospitalization or even be fatal.
These signs are very similar to those caused by Covid-19. It can create additional anxiety for patients and stress on the health system this year. So it is advisable that everyone get a flu shot. It will not protect people from Covid-19, but it will reduce flu-related illnesses and, in effect, relieve stress in health services during this pandemic.
Covid-19 and influenza
People over 65 are at higher risk and could die from the flu or Covid-19. Influenza also causes serious illness in young children. This is different from Covid-19, which has so far caused very few deaths in children under the age of nine. Pregnant women and people with HIV or other immunosuppressive conditions are at high risk for severe illness and even death from influenza. People with underlying health conditions may also experience Covid-19 more severely.
Covid-19 appears to have a higher mortality rate (1% -5%) than influenza (less than 0.5%). But during the winter, the flu can infect up to a third of the population. Every year, seasonal flu kills 100,000 to 600,000 people worldwide. There are around 11,500 deaths in South Africa alone.
So why should we be concerned about the annual flu season at a time when Covid-19 seems to be much worse than the flu?
Well, first of all, we want to avoid doctor visits if possible during the pandemic. This will reduce stress on the health system and help patients avoid exposure to patients infected with Covid-19, to avoid the risk of influenza and Covid-19 coinfections. Little information is available on the severity of Covid-19 and other viral coinfections. But a recent report suggests that flu and Covid-19 coinfections can cause more serious illness in high-risk patients and complicate diagnoses.
This further emphasizes the importance of getting a flu shot. The pneumococcal vaccine can also reduce the number of secondary bacterial infections that can aggravate the disease, especially in children and the elderly.
So who should get the vaccine?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends annual vaccination for high-risk population groups. These include pregnant women, children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, people over the age of 65, people with chronic medical conditions such as HIV, heart or lung problems, and health workers.
Most countries provide free vaccines to these high-risk groups. But people of all ages will benefit from getting a flu shot. However, high-risk individuals should be given priority if vaccine stocks are depleted.
There are myths and questions about the flu shot that influence people’s decisions about the vaccine. These must be addressed.
- How do I know that the influenza vaccine matches the strains that circulate during our season? There are three influenza subtypes circulating globally at the same time that they are included in the flu vaccine. Every year, the global network of WHO National Influenza Centers collaborates to identify the most common strains circulating in the northern and southern hemispheres. These strains are used to produce specific vaccines for each hemisphere that are ready in time for the influenza season of the following year. Influenza strains can mutate or genetically drift from year to year. But most of the time the vaccine strains are very similar to current circulating strains and provide protection against most, if not all, of the vaccine strains.
- Can the flu shot make you sick? No, the flu vaccine only contains the dead flu virus, so it cannot infect you. The flu vaccine is produced in eggs and is killed to make the vaccine. Some people who are allergic to eggs may have a reaction to egg proteins and should not receive the vaccine, but this is rare.
- Is it true that there is mercury in the vaccine that could be toxic? In the past, a preservative called thimerosal was used in vaccines that contained small amounts of ethylmercury. Ethylmercury is not the same as methylmercury, which is found in certain fish and can be toxic if consumed at high levels. However, due to public concerns, thimerosal was removed from all vaccines in 1999.
- I still got sick in the past after getting the flu shot. Other viruses like rhinovirus or respiratory syncytial virus that circulate at the same time as the flu can cause an infection with the same symptoms. The vaccine is approximately 50% -70% effective in preventing the flu. But if you still get sick or have a coinfection with another virus, the flu shot will continue to reduce the severity of the disease.
The flu shot will not protect you from getting Covid-19. But by protecting themselves from the flu, people could avoid unnecessary visits to doctors and protect vulnerable groups from potentially more serious illnesses.
Marietjie Venter, Chief: Zoonotic Tree Program and Respiratory Virus, Professor, Department of Medical Virology, University of Pretoria
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
To get more news your way, download The Citizen app iOS and Android.
[ad_2]
