People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be vaccinated against the flu

Source: TASR / Dano Veselský

KOŠICE – People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should be vaccinated against the flu, also in connection with the new coronavirus. It is also essential to quit smoking. TASR informed Ivana Vaněková of Louis Pasteur University Hospital (UNLP) Košice of this, stating that the number of COPD patients is on the rise, it is the third most common cause of death.

COPD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways – bronchi and lungs. It is caused by long-term inhalation of pollutants. Most often it is the inhalation of cigarette smoke while smoking, more rarely this disease manifests itself during a long stay in a working or polluted environment. Its danger also lies in the fact that the lungs do not hurt and therefore it is more difficult to diagnose. “The disease is characterized by a narrowing of the lumen of the bronchi, which results in a reduction of lung volumes and capacities in the spirometric examination of the lungs. It manifests itself with a progressive deterioration of shortness of breath (observed with less and less effort) and chronic cough “, explained the head of the Department of Pneumology and Physiology Pavol Joppa. The disease cannot be cured, the goal of treatment is to slow the loss of lung function, ideally to stabilize them.

According to him, drug treatment is based on inhaled drugs that act mainly to enlarge the bronchi, to a lesser extent to reduce inflammation. “In the terminal stages of the disease, when respiratory failure occurs, long-term home treatment with oxygen or non-invasive ventilation support is given using a respiratory system and a face mask”, He added. It is also necessary to stop the exposure of the respiratory tract to harmful effects – in case of smoking it is necessary to stop smoking. Adequate regular physical activity is also appropriate.

According to Jopp, regular use of drugs to treat COPD will keep the inflammation in the airways under control. Increases the risk of various respiratory viral diseases, such as influenza, in the event of an outbreak and exacerbation. As he said, every such patient should be protected against her every year with vaccination.

In Slovakia, around 90,000 people are monitored with a COPD diagnosis, their number likely to be higher. However, these are people with an unrecognized disease. The UNLP says it affects around 12% of the adult population worldwide, or around 385 million people.

The hospital recalls that patients with chronic lung diseases such as respiratory allergies, asthma or COPD do not have a significantly higher risk of developing COVID-19 than the rest of the population. The most risky are the elderly and smokers. About ten percent of these patients end up in hospital with COVID-19.