New studies suggest flu shots are associated with a lower risk of covid-19

• Health experts are encouraging people to get flu shots at the same time to avoid the possibility of getting the flu and COVID-19.
• According to preliminary studies, flu shots can also reduce your risk of catching COVID-19.
• Researchers have found that healthcare workers who get a flu shot in the 2019-2020 season are 39% less likely to get a coronavirus by June.
• Studies have not shown that flu shots protect you from COVID-19, but additional research suggests that the vaccine may boost the body’s immune system.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

As the winter approached, the people began to sneeze. Toxic

In the last month, coronavirus cases have increased worldwide. Meanwhile, the onset of cold, dry winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere ensures the onset of the flu season. So the U.S. And public health officials in Europe are pushing people to get flu shots. Seasonal vaccinations reduce your risk of getting the flu by up to 60%, and reduce how seriously you get sick if you catch the flu.

But shots can have another important advantage: they reduce your chances of getting COVID-19.

A new preliminary study first reported by Scientific American found that healthcare workers receiving the flu vaccine before the 2019-2020 season were 39% fewer. A positive test for coronavirus is expected by June 1.

“Influenza vaccination can not only reduce influenza but also contribute to the Covid-19 related burden on the healthcare system,” the study authors wrote.

Vaccines can train our immune system to fight other viruses

For the new study, researchers examined data from about 10,600 employees at the Redwood University Medical Center in the Netherlands. From that group, they found that, as of June 1, 184 healthcare workers had tested positive for coronavirus. So they looked at who among all the employees got the flu during the winter.

The study authors found that 2.23% of healthcare workers who did not receive the flu shot tested positive for COVID-19, while only 1.33% were vaccinated.

Two other recent studies in Italy found a similar trend: lower rates of coronavirus were found in Italians over the age of 65 who received flu shots.

LM Otero / AP

These findings also align with previous research suggesting that vaccines can also target specific viruses, such as measles or polio, but can also help train the body to fight other invaders.

When a person becomes ill, the immune system makes antibody proteins that recognize the virus and neutralize it, then remember that the next time the virus invades – this is known as the adaptive immune response. But the body also has an immune system: whitening protects white blood cells against any pathogen. Vaccines can help enhance the ability of the innate immune response through a process called trained immunity.

Trained immunity is when the body’s innate immune cells respond to future invasions more quickly and more effectively, as a pump is determined, due to exposure to microbes over time.

The authors of the new study also investigated what happens when human blood cells become infected with the coronavirus when they are exposed to the flu vaccine. Cells exposed to the vaccine, they discovered, developed a more trained immune response to the coronavirus than unlikely cells. This was mainly due to the production of immune proteins called cytokines that fight infection.

Researchers also tried to print cells for both the flu vaccine and the BCG vaccine targeting tuberculosis. Exposure to both vaccines also created a consistent effect, the results suggest, further increasing the production of cytokines in cells.

Scientists still need more evidence that flu shots help protect against COVID-19

Experts say more evidence is needed to determine whether there is really a link between a flu shot and a lower risk of getting a coronavirus.

“This is an interesting study, but it does not provide conclusive evidence,” Ellen Foxman, an immunologist at the Yale School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, told Scientific American.

There may be other reasons why healthcare workers who did not take flu shots were injured with a slightly higher rate of COVD-19. Foxman said, for example, people are also more likely to be more cautious during an epidemic when they get a flu shot.

The study also found that healthcare workers had different levels of direct contact with hospital patients, which could affect outcomes. And researchers have not collected data on whether there was an increased risk of other health conditions, so that could also be a factor.

“As far as telling people, ‘You should get the flu vaccine because it can protect you from covid,’ it’s a bit of a stretch at this stage,” Foxman said.

But she added that you should take a flu shot anyway, because, of course, “it will protect you from the flu.”

The flu can be fatal

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year the U.S. About 0.1% of those infected with the flu died. It is about five to 10 times lower than the COVID-19 infection-mortality rate.

But influenza is not a cakewalk. Every year, seasonal flu kills tens of thousands of Americans. Last year, the U.S. There were more than 18 million flu-related medical visits and 405,000 hospitalizations.

According to the World Health Organization, between 290,000 and 650,000 respiratory deaths related to influenza occur worldwide each year.

Marco Gaber / Getty

Unlike the new coronavirus, the influenza virus mutates very quickly, leading to the appearance of new strains that weaken people’s immunity. That’s why we have to get a new flu shot every year, and that’s why the flu vaccine isn’t always 100% effective.