Coronavirus: Why COVID-19 recovered patients must consider getting a flu shot during pollution

A lot has been said about COVID reinfection. Those who have recovered from COVID-19 are asked to practice precaution and avoid risks which can make them vulnerable to future attacks and other medical issues. The change in weather and sudden pollution can also add to concerns. While diet and safety measures need to be practised, there's another preventive step which can safeguard you in the risky times- getting a flu shot.

Taking flu shots can be one of the ways to curb your COVID risk post recovery. Advocating the same, AIIMS Director, Dr Randeep Guleria has also advised people to get preventive flu shots.

"With rising pollution, falling temperature and increasing crowding during the festival season, everyone at risk and those with 'long COVID-19' must get vaccinated against the flu to lower severity of post-recovery symptoms and also protect against flu infection,"

While flu vaccination awareness is not that rampant in our country, it's a global practice in the West. Timely flu shots can be one of the ways to cut down our safety risk during the twindemic like situation we are dealing with- a pandemic marred by severe pollution and winter onset.

We explain to you some of the benefits of getting a flu vaccine and how it could lessen your risk of falling sick this year:

Post COVID, which affects over 70% recovered patient is a common problem which can have lingering side-effects. Patients can continue to exhibit symptoms including cough, cold, fever, body ache and signs of flu, long after making a recovery from COVID-19. In some cases, breathlessness and chest infections can also be experienced.

Some also require additional support, for example, making use of oxygen facilitators and concentrators. All of these are signs of respiratory distress and commonly associated with flu complications. Getting a flu shot may help lessen the severity of post COVID complications and speed up recovery.

Flu shots or annual influenza shots are vaccine doses which were developed to protect people against influenza and related illnesses. The vaccine sees an upgrade every year, which works against mutations as well. September-January is the time when flu rates plummet and so does the demand for flu shots as well.

There's another problem at hand here. While the winter season is an ideal time for a spike in COVID cases, it can also prolong the symptoms and signs for patients who have just recovered from COVID.

Another deterrent to this is the depleting air quality levels. Pollution is a big contributor to COVID. A Lancet study found that air pollution was responsible for an 11% average rise in COVID severity and mortality rates across the world. It's also the reason why a city like Delhi is recording alarming surges in the third wave of COVID infections.

Hence, a flu shot, which combats the viral infection can safeguard you from additional ills and lower symptoms of a cold or a flu right now. It can also lessen the problems of chronic respiratory distress which is commonly encountered right now.

Doctors recommend that people of all ages should get timely vaccinations - especially those who are at risk. Pregnant women, infants, children, people aged 65 and above and those with pre-existing conditions are considered to be at a higher risk and thus are recommended vaccines more often than others.

Even for those who have so far been safe from COVID exposure, getting a flu shot may act a preventable shield right now, triply protecting them from COVID-19, pollution and winter temperatures.

A number of studies have pointed out the ability of flu shots in lessening the severity of COVID infection. A study published in the journal ScienceDirect also suggests that effective vaccination could build innate immunity and may even reduce the risk of respiratory complications associated with the pandemic.

Timely vaccination could also cut down on hospitalization rates and save resources for those in need in the current timeline. A flu shot might not be the most effective tool guaranteeing your protection right now, but it could definitely downplay the risk of catching additional infection risks.

Flu shots can also work to build up natural immunity in the body. A wide-scale study done in Brazil in the early months of the pandemic found that timely vaccination was able to reduce severity of infection and hospitalization rates in the elderly.