Seasonal flu shot and the COVID-19 pandemic: don’t miss the last chance
DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2020-4-11-687-690
Seasonal flu shot and the COVID-19 pandemic: don’t miss the last chance
A.L. Zaplatnikov1, A.A. Girina2, E.I. Burtseva3, V.I. Svintsitskaya1
1Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Moscow,
Russian Federation
2Khanty-Mansi State Medical Academy, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation
3D.I. Ivanovskiy Institute of Virology, N.F. Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, Russian Federation
This article addresses the data on flu vaccination in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It was demonstrated that flu vaccination decreases the incidence and rate of severe influenza. The result is the significant reduction in the rate of the referral to medical care and less workload of all divisions of medical institutions (i.e., outpatient and inpatient departments, first aid and emergency, laboratories etc.). This decreases the burden on health care system and preserves forces to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive effects of flu vaccination on the morbidity, severity, and outcomes from COVID-19 are highlighted. The authors also focus on the low coverage of flu vaccination as one of the key factors of the inadequate preventive efficacy of immunization. The authors provide their own findings on the low coverage of flu vaccination (6.9%) among the children with laboratory verified influenza who were admitted to hospital. Considering an unfavorable situation with the spread of coronavirus infection, the activities aimed at the increase in the coverage of flu vaccination should be promptly accelerated.
Keywords: vaccination, flu, novel coronavirus infection, pandemic, COVID-19, seasonal flu shot.
FOR CITATION: Zaplatnikov A.L., Girina A.A., Burtseva E.I., Svintsitskaya V.I. Seasonal flu shot and the COVID-19 pandemic: don’t miss the last chance. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2020;4(11):687–690. DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2020-4-11-687-690.
About the authors:
Andrey L. Zaplatnikov — Doct. of Sci. (Med.), Professor, Vice-chancellor for Instructional Work, Head of Prof. N.N. Gavryushov Department of Neonatology, Professor of Acad. G.N. Speranskiy Department of Pediatrics, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, 2/1, Barrikadnaya str., Moscow, 123995, Russian Federation; ORCID iD 0000-0003-1303-8318.
Asiya A. Girina — Cand. of Sci. (Med.), Associate Professor of the Department of Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology, and Pediatrics with the Course of Immunology and Allergy, Khanty-Mansi State Medical Academy, 40, Mira str., Khanty-Mansiysk, 628011, Russian Federation; ORCID iD 0000-0002-5281-1564.
Elena I. Burtseva — Doct. of Sci. (Med.), Head of the Laboratory of the Etiology and Epidemiology of Flu, D.I. Ivanovskiy Institute of Virology, N.F. Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, 16, Gamalei str., Moscow, 123098, Russian Federation; ORCID iD 0000-0003-2518-6801.
Viktoriya I. Svintsitskaya — Cand. of Sci. (Med.), Associate Professor of Acad. G.N. Speranskiy Department of Pediatrics, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, 2/1, Barrikadnaya str., Moscow, 123995, Russian Federation; ORCID iD 0000-0002-9272-2339.
Contact information: Andrey L. Zaplatnikov, e-mail: zaplatnikov@mail.ru. Financial Disclosure: no authors have a financial or property interest in any material or method mentioned. There is no conflict of interests. Received 16.11.2020, revised 18.11.2020, accepted 20.11.2020.
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