The flu vaccine is an indirect weapon in the face of Covid-19

 The flu vaccine is an indirect weapon in the face of Covid-19

An unprecedented seasonal influenza vaccination campaign will be launched in October to prevent an increased burden on the health system. The vaccine might also reduce the severity of SARS-CoV-2.

How can you distinguish influenza from SARS-CoV-2? Fever, body aches, fatigue, cough ... many of the symptoms are similar. The fear lies in seeing the Corona virus, influenza virus and other winter viruses spread simultaneously, "in light of the risk of saturation of health systems, already severely affected by the Covid epidemic," confirms Daniel Florette, Vice President of the Vaccination Technical Committee at the Supreme Health Authority. Consequently, more voices are calling for encouraging vaccination against seasonal influenza, this year than usual. The campaign is scheduled to start in mid-October.

The burden is heavy. In France, between 2 to 8 million people are affected each winter by the disease, which has claimed 8,000 to 14,000 lives annually over the past three seasons. During the 2018-2019 epidemic, which was considered to be of "moderate" severity, at least 65,600 emergency room visits were recorded, more than 10,700 people were hospitalized with a flu-like illness, and more than 1,890 severe cases were recorded. Accepted into intensive care, according to Public Health France (SPF). The danger is also the blockage of medical offices. General practitioner Serge Gilberg sums up: "The challenge is to vaccinate those who may develop complications so that they are not crowded into hospitals when we need beds."

Especially as the Covid-19 epidemic is not weakening. According to the SPF Epidemiological Update on September 3, 36,785 cases were identified in the week of August 24-30, up 32% from the previous week, and 30,661 people had already died of the disease.

Of the target population

In this context, several institutions sounded the alarm, calling for an urgent generalization of vaccination. From May 13th, the Academy of Medicine has recommended that “influenza vaccination be made mandatory for all caregivers and social workers who are in contact with people at risk, especially in nursing homes, institutions, hospitals and nurseries,” and that doctors commit to “provide influenza vaccination to all counselors” . On August 19, seven pediatric scientific societies published an open letter calling on parents to vaccinate their children against influenza and the rotavirus, which are responsible for childhood gastroenteritis.

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