Jaekap Lee, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Hallym University
Flu infection increases susceptibility to coronavirus threefold
Flu-Corona vaccine is required regardless of age.
SK Vasa vaccine recommended for egg allergy
Recently, morning and evening temperatures have dropped significantly, and the daily temperature difference is increasing by up to 10 degrees or more. If the daily temperature difference is more than 10 degrees, immunity decreases significantly, so special attention should be paid to various respiratory infectious diseases.
Lee Jae-gap, a professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University who recently met with Dong-A Ilbo, said, “It is advisable for young people to get vaccinated against influenza (flu) without being confident about their health.” “Because it can be fatal, vaccination is especially recommended,” he advised.
● If you catch the flu, your vulnerability to COVID-19 increases three times.
With the recent resurgence of COVID-19 and the winter season when influenza is prevalent, health authorities are increasingly concerned about simultaneous infection with COVID-19 and influenza. This is because the flu vaccination rate has decreased somewhat since 2021 due to vaccine fatigue following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem is that if you are infected with influenza, you are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection and are more likely to show mild or severe symptoms. Hallym University researchers published these research results in the international academic journal ‘Scientific Report’ in 2021.
As a result of analyzing 8,070 COVID-19 infected people and 32,280 uninfected control subjects, the researchers confirmed that influenza infection increases vulnerability to COVID-19 by up to 3.07 times. In the case of COVID-19 patients who not only suffered from infection but also showed mild or severe symptoms, the proportion of patients previously infected with influenza was up to 3.64 times higher than that of the control group. There was no significant difference depending on age.
Professor Lee said, “The results suggest that co-infected patients are more likely to show severe symptoms than patients infected with only influenza or COVID-19,” and added, “Don’t be complacent just because you are young, and recommend that you get at least one of the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine.” “I do it,” he said.
●Various vaccine development methods expand options
Currently, some vulnerable groups, such as those over 65 and those with weakened immune systems, can receive the COVID-19 vaccine for free starting from the 11th of this month. Starting this year, not only the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but also the recombinant protein-based Novavax vaccine will be supplied simultaneously, expanding the options for vaccine recipients.
Recombinant protein is a method of injecting part of the protein of the COVID-19 virus. Professor Lee said, “If you had severe side effects such as high fever and muscle pain after previously administering the mRNA vaccine, you can choose the Novavax vaccine this year.”
In the case of the influenza vaccine, free influenza vaccination has been implemented for children under 6 months to 13 years of age since the 20th of last month. Pregnant women and those over the age of 65 can receive free vaccination sequentially starting today (the 2nd).
Currently, several domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies, including SK Bioscience, GC Green Cross, Boryung Biopharma, and Sanofi, are providing influenza vaccines in Korea. The prevention rates are not very different, but there are differences in development methods, so experts recommend that infants with severe allergies or underlying diseases check the differences between vaccines in advance.
Most vaccines cultivate influenza viruses in fertilized eggs, but SK Bioscience’s ‘Sky Cell Flu’ cultivates the virus in animal cells instead of fertilized eggs. For this reason, cell culture may be safer for infants with severe egg allergies or those with underlying skin conditions.
Professor Lee said, “There are no safety issues with all vaccines, but if you have a severe allergy to eggs, we recommend cell culture-based vaccination first.”
Reporter Choi Ji-won [email protected]
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2024-10-02 11:09:24