Study Claims People Who Got Flu Vaccine Last Season Are Less Severe For Covid-19

Findings from a new study suggest that people who received a flu vaccine during the last flu season were significantly less likely to test positive for Covid-19 when the pandemic struck. Those who tested positive faced fewer complications than those who did not receive the flu vaccine.

These new findings mean that lead author Marion Hofmann Bowman, MD, continues to recommend the flu vaccine to her patients even as flu season may be ending.

“It’s particularly relevant to questions about the vaccine, and maybe getting the flu shot this year can ease some of the angst over the new Covid-19 vaccine,” says Hofmann, associate professor of internal medicine and cardiologist at the Cardiovascular Center. Frankel of Michigan Medicine. Michigan Medicine is the academic medical center of the University of Michigan.

Researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 27,000 patients who were tested for Covid-19 infection at Michigan Medicine between March and mid-July 2020. Of the nearly 13,000 who were vaccinated against the flu in the previous year , four percent tested positive for Covid -19. Of the 14,000 who had not been vaccinated against the flu, almost five percent tested positive for Covid-19. The association remained significant after controlling for other variables, such as ethnicity, race, gender, age, BMI, smoking, and many comorbid conditions, Hofmann says.

People who received the flu vaccine were also significantly less likely to require hospitalization, although the researchers found no significant difference in mortality between the two groups. No one in the study tested positive for both infections at the same time.

The underlying mechanism behind the association is not yet clear, says Hofmann.

“It is possible that the patients receiving the influenza vaccine are also people who practice greater social distancing and follow CDC guidelines. However, it is also plausible that there may be a direct biological effect of the influenza vaccine on the immune system relevant to fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, “he says.

Prospective longitudinal studies are being conducted to examine the effect of influenza vaccine on respiratory diseases, including the Home Influenza Vaccine Evaluation (HIVE) study through the University of California School of Public Health. Michigan.

“It is powerful to provide providers with another tool to encourage their patients to take advantage of available, effective and safe vaccines,” says co-lead author Carmel Ashur, MD, MS, assistant professor of internal medicine and hospitalist at Michigan Medicine.

Months ago, Hofmann was concerned about misinformation she kept seeing online that connected the flu vaccine to a Covid-19 infection.

“Rather than a concerning connection between Covid-19 and the flu vaccine, our post provides more confidence that getting the flu vaccine is associated with staying out of the hospital for Covid-19,” he says.

Before the pandemic, Hofmann and co-author Anna Conlon, PhD, a student at UM School of Medicine, educated Frankel CVC patients about another encouraging association with the flu vaccine: cardiovascular protective effects.

“There is strong data that the flu vaccine prevents heart attacks and heart failure hospitalizations, which is an additional reason to get vaccinated each flu season,” says Conlon.

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