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We keep hearing that we should all get vaccinated against seasonal flu to reduce the risks associated with Covid. Is it really so? Supossely Yes.
The Italian discovery
According to some studies, the latest published by Monzino Heart Center in Milan posted in Vaccines, il flu shot would help stop the consequences of Covid-19.
The influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 have similar transmission routes and some symptoms in common, the authors write, but they are very different in terms of severity and mortality in the event of infection, and in terms of age groups affected. . The flu primarily infects children and adolescents, while Covid-19 primarily affects the elderly (you will find an in-depth study on how to distinguish flu symptoms from Covid symptoms here).
A possible explanation could be that younger people have a more reactive and strengthened immune system from exposure to viral agents or antigens contained in many pediatric vaccinessuch as measles, chickenpox, scarlet fever, rubella, hepatitis B, and papillomavirus.
Thus, vaccines can trigger positive “nonspecific” immune response mechanisms, improving the responsiveness of the immune system as a whole.
What happens if you get more vaccinated?
Specifically, the flu vaccine would mostly be crucial to reduce hospital burden in the case of a second wave of Coronavirus. But not only.
In the period of the confinement, Milanese research has shown that Italian regions with a higher flu vaccination coverage rate in the population over 65 years showed fewer infections, fewer hospitalized patients with symptoms, as well as fewer ICU patients and deaths from Covid-19.
According to some ex post forecasts, only a small increase in vaccination coverage would have prevented about 2,000 deaths from coronavirus.
In particular, a just 1% increase in vaccination coverage in people over 65, which is equivalent to about 140,000 more doses nationwide, could have prevented 78,560 infections, 2,512 hospitalizations, 353 hospitalizations in intensive care units, and 1,989 deaths from Covid-19. For this reason “it would be important to encourage as far as possible any activity that could lead to an increase in vaccination coverage, especially among those over 65 years of age”, explained Dr. Mauro Amato.
Why get vaccinated against seasonal flu
The study compared, Region by Region, the vaccination coverage rates in people over 65 years of age with the number of infections and three other indices of clinical severity of the disease: the number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19, the number of hospitalized in care intensive and the number of deaths from infection.
All tests confirmed that I Spread rates and severity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are inversely proportional to the influenza vaccination rate: fewer vaccines, more Covid-19.
Although more ad hoc studies are needed to confirm the hypothesis, the study provides an additional scientific basis for the recommendations of all health authorities, starting with the World Health Organization, which are urging the population to submit, especially this year. , the flu shot.
Remember that the 2020 flu vaccine should also be available in pharmacies, although there are already many problems in this regard.
Meanwhile, on the coronavirus vaccine front, the European Commission has signed a formal agreement that provides for the distribution of the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine already by the end of this year.
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