Washington: People who are vaccinated against influenza can partly protect partly on many severe effects of Covid-19, and tend to require emergency care, according to a large-scale study.
Analysis of nearly 75,000 Covid-19 patients from all over the world strongly suggested that the annual flu shot reduces the risk of stroke, sepsis and inner venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients with Covid-19.
Patients with Covid-19 who have been vaccinated against the flu also tend to visit the emergency department and treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the researchers said.
“This finding is very important because this pandemic strims resources in many parts of the world,” said Devinder Singh, a professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in the US.
“Therefore, our research – if validated by prospective random clinical trials – has the potential to reduce the burden of diseases throughout the world,” said Singh, senior writer of the study.
Some of the latest studies show that the flu vaccine can provide protection against Covid-19, it can be a valuable weapon in the struggle to stop pandemic.
In the largest study of its kind, the researchers filtered the electronic health records identified in the Trinetx research database of more than 70 million patients to identify two groups of 37,377 patients.
These two groups are matched for factors that can affect severe Covid-19 risk, including age, gender, ethnicity, smoking and health problems such as diabetes, obesity and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The first group member has received a flu vaccine between two weeks and six months before being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Those in the second group also had Covid-19 but were not vaccinated against the flu.
This study was conducted using patients from countries including the US, Britain, Germany, Italy, Israel and Singapore.
This research is presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECMMID), held online.
The incidence of 15 adverse results, including sepsis, stroke, DVT, and acute respiratory failure, in 120 positive testing days for Covid-19 then compared between the two groups.
The analysis revealed that those who did not have a flu jab up to 20 percent were more likely to be accepted into the ICU.
They also up to 58 percent more likely to visit the emergency department, up to 45 percent more likely to develop sepsis, up to 58 percent more likely to have strokes, and up to 40 percent more likely to have DVT.
The risk of death is not reduced, the researchers said.
However, the researchers said it was not known exactly how the Jab Flu provided protection against Covid-19.
Most of theories around influenza vaccines increase the default immune system – general defense we are born with those who are not tailored to certain diseases, they said.
The researchers said their results showed that the flu vaccine protected against several severe effects of Covid-19.
They noted that further research is needed to prove and better understand possible relationships but, in the future, flu shots can be used to help provide increased protection in countries where the Covid-19 vaccine is in a short supply.
“Influenza vaccination might even benefit individuals who are hesitant to receive Covid-19 vaccines because of technology novelty,” said Susan Taghioff, from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“Even so, the influenza vaccine is at all a substitute for the Covid-19 vaccine and we advocate for everyone to receive their Covid-19 vaccine if capable,” added Taghioff.