Influenza vaccination could also reduce the risk of coronary infection

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In recent months, the coronavirus has spread around the world. Also, winter is starting, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, and with it the flu season. In response, health officials in the United States and Europe advise people to get the flu shot. Vaccination can reduce the risk of infection by up to 60 percent.

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Such a vaccination may have another advantage: a lower risk of developing Covid-19. A preliminary study published in Scientific American shows that people who were vaccinated against the flu between 2019 and 2020 were 39% less likely to contract Covid-19 by June.

Vaccinations can train our immune system

For the new study, the scientists looked at data from around 10,600 employees at Radboud University Hospital. 184 of the employees tested positive for Covid-19 in early June. It was then checked which of the employees had previously been vaccinated against the flu. The result: 2.23% of employees not vaccinated against influenza tested positive for Covid-19. In contrast, it was only 1.33% of vaccinated employees.

Two other studies from Italy arrive at similar results: the number of patients with Covid-19 who were over 65 and who had been vaccinated against the flu was lower than those without vaccination. These results agree with previous studies: they have shown that vaccinations, for example against measles or polio, help the body to better fight other diseases.

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When a person becomes ill, the immune system produces antibodies to fight the virus. These antibodies recognize the virus when the disease returns: this is called adaptive immunity. In addition, the body has an innate defense reaction of the immune system: white blood cells that fight pathogens. Vaccinations can promote this natural immune response.

Learned immunity changes cells so they can react faster and more effectively to future diseases. The authors of the new study also investigated what happens when human blood cells are spiked with the flu vaccine and then exposed to the corona virus. Cells treated with the vaccine developed a better defense reaction than unvaccinated cells. The main reason is the increased production of the cytokine immune protein, which fights infections.

Whether flu vaccinations also protect against Covid-19 is still not sufficiently scientifically proven

Experts are asking for more evidence on whether or not there is a link between flu vaccination and a lower risk of Covid-19 infection. “It’s an exciting study, but it doesn’t provide definitive evidence,” Ellen Foxman, an immunobiologist at the Yale School of Medicine, tells Scientific American. She was not involved in the study.

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There may also be other reasons why people without the flu vaccine have a higher Covid-19 rate. Foxman says people who get vaccinated may have taken more precautions even during the pandemic. In addition, the test subjects had various intense contacts with patients in the hospital. Which may also have affected the results. Other possible diseases of the test subjects were also not considered in the study.

Foxman warns: “That a flu shot protects against Covid-19 simply isn’t proven at this time.” However, he also said that a flu shot is important because it protects against the flu.

The flu can also be fatal

About 0.1% of people who got the flu last year in the United States died from the disease. This was announced by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This means that the death rate is up to ten times lower than that of Covid-19.

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However, the flu shouldn’t be taken lightly. Tens of thousands of citizens die of seasonal flu every year. In the past year alone, more than 18 million people in the United States have seen a doctor for the flu and 405,000 people have been hospitalized for the flu. According to the WHO, between 290,000 and 650,000 people around the world die from the flu each year. Unlike the coronavirus, influenza viruses mutate faster and repeatedly attack people’s immune systems. For this reason, an annual flu shot is recommended, although it can never be 100% safe due to the rapid mutations.

This text was translated from English by Siw Inken Forke. You can find the original here.