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- Can seasonal flu antibodies fight COVID-19?
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- Can the flu vaccine help fight infection?
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Several countries are starting to increase their seasonal flu vaccine immunization as part of efforts to combat COVID-19. South Korea, for example, is targeting the flu vaccine immunization to increase by 20 percent more than last year. This target is mainly aimed at children, the elderly, pregnant women, and medical personnel.
The flu vaccine campaign carried out by South Korea is not intended to protect directly from COVID-19. This is done to prevent health facilities from getting flooded with flu patients as they enter winter, considering that currently health workers are focusing on handling cases of COVID-19 transmission.
Does the flu vaccine have a special effect on preventing COVID-19?
Can seasonal flu antibodies fight COVID-19?
Viruses that cause flu are able to mutate quickly and create new strains or types of viruses. This makes the vaccine injection must be repeated every year.
These different viral strains can also affect the severity of symptoms experienced. In some countries, the flu can cause a high mortality rate while in other countries it tends to be mild.
Recent research published in Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that COVID-19 patients who have caught the flu in the near future are likely to experience milder symptoms of COVID-19.
When infected with a virus, the body will secrete antibodies and T cells in response to fight against the virus. After recovering, the antibodies and T cells that have formed will last for some time in anticipation of re-infection of the same virus.
In this study researchers found that T cells can recognize the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the blood of patients who have never been infected with COVID-19 before. After conducting further research it was found that these T cells were formed from exposure to the corona virus that causes flu.
T cells are memory cells or cells that have memories of viruses or bacteria that have infected the body. So when the same virus tries to enter, these cells immediately send a signal to the body to fight before the virus infects more severely.
These findings underscore the importance of determining the impact of pre-existing immune memory on the severity of COVID-19 disease.
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DeathDistribution MapCan the flu vaccine help fight infection?
Health experts in the United States began to urge people to immunize the influenza vaccine to prevent a spike in flu cases. But this time there is another purpose for the flu shot besides being used to ward off flu, namely the possibility of a flu vaccine to help fight COVID-19.
An early study said the flu vaccine against the influenza virus can also trigger the body to produce broad infection resistance so that it can help fight the corona virus that causes COVID-19. This study has not been subject to peer review.
Infectious disease immunologist at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands combing their hospital databases for the link between flu vaccine and COVID-19 transmission rates.
They are looking to find out whether employees who were vaccinated against the flu during the 2019-2020 season were less likely to be infected by SARS-CoV-2. As a result, employees who received the flu vaccine were 39 percent less likely to be infected with COVID-19.
But researchers warn that it is too early to say whether ever having the flu or the flu vaccine immunization helps the immune system to fight COVID-19. Because studies of such behavioral categories are heavily influenced by other factors, for example it could be that people who do immunizations tend to perform better health protocols than those who don't. Therefore, experts say that clinical trials are needed to determine the efficacy of one vaccine against other viruses.
"The flu vaccine reduces the risk of people getting sick with the flu during a pandemic. This can help health workers reduce the mistake of suspecting flu symptoms with COVID-19 symptoms, "said dr. Ram Koppaka, specialist at the CDC's Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
