There’s no vaccine for COVID-19 yet, but there’s one for influenza. Globally, there has been a lot of speculation that since coronavirus causes respiratory illness, a flu shot might provide some cross-immunity, which is pushing demand for flu shots in Asia.
By Deepika Khurana
With a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic looming over many Asian countries, the demand for seasonal flu shots has gone up than normal.
According to reports, in Japan, the health ministry is preparing 31.2 million flu shots, up 7% from last year and the highest since 2015.
Similarly, South Korea is reported to have procured about 30 million flu vaccines for the winter season, up 20% from last year, and Australia 16.5 million flu shots, up from 13.2 million last year.
The move-in India echoes similar efforts where several people are opting to take the seasonal flu vaccines to protect themselves from other respiratory illnesses. “Needless to say, the number of people asking for the flu vaccine has definitely doubled in 2020,” said Dr. Bela Sharma, Additional Director, Internal Medicine, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.
The shots are available at various private hospitals and clinics, and doctors are advising people to take them so that they do not catch seasonal flu as the healthcare system is already burdened owing to the pandemic.
In fact, officials from the World Health Organisation too urged countries to increase flu vaccination because of the difficulty of distinguishing the symptoms of COVID-19 from influenza and due to limited medical resources.
“While everyone around the world– the scientist community, doctors and medical health professionals are preoccupied in diagnosing, preventing, treating and getting a vaccination of COVID-19, we seem to have ignored other important health issues that besiege us regularly. Amongst these is another viral infection that claims thousands of lives every year, namely influenza,” informed Dr. Bela.
Call it bird flu, SARS, or swine flu, but it is known that flu causes a number of deaths every year. According to the latest figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in The Lancet medical journal, seasonal flu kills 646,000 people worldwide each year.
The data came from 33 countries that have 57 percent of the world’s population and the study revealed that the risk of flu-related death was highest in the poorest regions of the world and among older adults.
Fortunately, there’s a vaccine available that can protect people against this deadly respiratory virus.
Dr. Akshay Jadhav, Pediatrician, Oyster Multispeciality Clinic, and Clinical Director, RTWO Healthcare Solutions, Bengaluru agrees that more people are taking flu shots this year, roughly 20% more than the usual. “People wrongly believe that since coronavirus causes respiratory illness, a flu shot might protect them against it,” he said.
Some are taking the flu shots because they are afraid that if they catch a fever or cough, they might be suspected to have COVID-19. Ramesh Kumar, a Delhi-based hospitality manager decided that his entire family would take the flu shot this season to avoid unnecessary chaos that might be caused if they develop the regular flu. “Due to the change in the weather, we might develop cold or fever. And with our hospitals already flooded with COVID patients, we do not want to risk our lives,” he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a seasonal flu shot would provide protection against three or four influenza viruses that may be most common during the season. “Getting a flu vaccine is more important than ever during 2020–21 to protect yourself and the people around you from flu, and to help reduce the strain on healthcare systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic,” states its website.
“This flu vaccine needs to be taken every year before the influenza season because the virus mutates easily and new strains might not be affected by the vaccine that we had taken earlier. Thus, every year WHO releases the strain that is prevalent that particular year and then accordingly we advise people to take the vaccine,” added Dr. Bela.
The same people who are most vulnerable to risks from COVID-19, such as the elderly and those with respiratory conditions, are also at greatest risk for the flu.
“It becomes imperative to prevent sick from being admitted to the already filled ICUs and wards with COVID-19. This is especially important for those above 65 years and below 2 years,” said Dr. Jadhav.
In China, where flu shots are typically not free, some local authorities have reported a surge in demand. Disease prevention authorities in the Changning district of Shanghai city told local media they expect demand for flu vaccines in the autumn and winter to increase some 50% from previous years.
The immunization rate against the flu was not very high in the past in China, but the COVID-19 epidemic has raised public awareness of vaccines, so much so that Zhangjiakou city in North China’s Hebei Province started offering vaccinations as early as August this year, according to media reports.
Globally, there have been a lot of speculations that since influenza is also a respiratory virus and COVID-19 seems to be mainly a respiratory virus, there may be some cross-immunity. “Unfortunately it is not like that,” warns Dr. Jadhav.
He further added, “Although influenza’s disease burden varies from year to year, the evidence clearly shows that vaccination can reduce flu severity and prevent hospitalisation. Therefore, individuals who are at a higher risk for the infection, or have pre-existing comorbidities should take a flu shot to prevent anxiety and unnecessary interventions,” he said.
Flu vaccines are designed to provide protection against three to four virus strains that scientists predict might circulate in the coming flu season.
But this year it is going to be unpredictable as there’s a lot of uncertainty that looms over how the influenza virus will co-exist with the COVID-19 virus.
“We still do not know how the influenza virus will interact with the new COVID-19 virus because the flu virus until now was a minor part of the diaspora of the H1N1 family. But due to unknown environmental influences, this has become one of the major strains to contract pediatric or other populations,” cautioned Dr. Jadhav.
Moreover, researchers fully acknowledge that the flu virus mutates quickly, and multiple strains circulate at any given time, some more harmful than others.
So, even if the flu shot doesn’t prevent infection, it can certainly protect the vulnerable from the adverse health outcome and against other severe diseases.
“One thing that needs to be told is that flu vaccine in no way can protect us against any other respiratory illness or infection, whether it is pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia or COVID -19. The flu vaccine protects us against flu, which is influenza,” said Dr. Bela.
As far as COVID-19 is concerned, experts note, “we still need to wear masks, need to maintain social distance, wash and sanitize our hands regularly and still need to be vigilant. We need to change our behavior to survive.”
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