Seasonal influenza clashes with COVID-19 | Coronavirus

The Oregon Department of Health has ordered seven times more influenza vaccination than usual because of a one-month influenza epidemic that exacerbates the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the advent of the flu season from October to April, some medical professionals have called the situation a twin epidemic: the combination of two viruses that cause some of the same symptoms.

Every year, seasonal flu causes some people to get sick, others to be hospitalized, and even kill people. But it is Influenza vaccine..

Since 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Estimate Influenza causes 9 to 45 million illnesses annually. According to CDC data, about 39 million people became ill last year and as many as 62,000 died from the flu.

“This year is especially important because of the COVID-19 epidemic,” said Jill Johnson, Deschutes County Health Service Infectious Diseases Supervisor. “Seasonal flu vaccines can reduce the spread of respiratory illness. The danger is even in mild flu years, with hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations coupled with COVID-19, which can overwhelm the hospital system. There is a possibility.

Last year, about 20% of all Oregon flu tests were positive for seasonal flu. Health record.. During last year’s influenza season, the virus increased in mid-December and peaked at the end of January, according to an Oregon Health Department’s influenza monitoring report.

However, accurate data is not available for last year’s flu season in Oregon.

The CDC recommends that anyone over the age of 6 months be vaccinated against the flu by the end of October. Influenza illness usually peaks in January, according to Johnson.

Influenza vaccination can reduce the risk of getting the virus by up to 60%, Johnson said. Anyway, people infected with the virus generally feel sick and have fewer days, she said.

Wearing the COVID-19 facial covering will also help prevent the flu. Health officials say face coverings, vaccinations, frequent hand washing, and staying in a symptomatic home are part of a social contract that keeps others healthy.

“There are two potential scenarios,” said Dr. Russell Massin, the attending physician and nephrologist at Omigon’s Summit Medical Group. “One could be a typical seasonal flu outbreak, the severity of which is unpredictable each year. The other is a silver lining, due to social distance and hand washing and wearing a mask. Measures can prevent the spread of influenza. “

If the majority of people were vaccinated against the flu, it would protect the minority who could or could not be vaccinated against the flu because of health problems, Massin said. He recommends getting a flu shot as well as his high-risk patients.

“There is a risk of co-infection with influenza and COVID-19, which could prove to be more destructive and can overwhelm the healthy community,” Massine said.

Steve Robison, an epidemiologist at the Oregon Department of Health vaccination program, says the state as a whole is the smallest group of people in their twenties to get the flu vaccine.

“Every year, many older people in Oregon are vaccinated against the flu,” Robison said. “Maybe it’s difficult to access or you don’t feel the need. I want the young people around me to protect me and myself.”

Lydia Luther, Oregon Health Department’s Vaccination Program Manager, recommends that health officials be vaccinated against influenza in September and October.

Additional vaccinations ordered by state health officials will be distributed to clinics around the state and issued for people and children who do not have health insurance, Luther said.

“We believe that as the Oregon community we have never been asked what we need to do. I am to prevent influenza during COVID-19. Do what we can. “” Do it, in part, to protect individuals, to protect families, and to protect communities. “