A recent study by European scientists found that the risk of dying from co-infection with the flu and COVID-19 is twice as high. In particular, there is a high risk of co-infection symptoms becoming serious in the high-risk group or in severe patients. The need to expand testing with each vaccination was raised to avoid co-infection in high-risk groups. Courtesy of Getty Image Bank
European scientists have published a study that found that the risk of death significantly increased when infected with the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the flu. In particular, there is a high risk of co-infection symptoms becoming serious in the high-risk group or in severe patients. The need to expand testing with each vaccination was raised to avoid co-infection in high-risk groups.
A research team at the University of Edinburgh’s Rosslyn Institute, the University of Liverpool, and Imperial College London found that the risk of death in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 was doubled if they became infected with the flu, the international scientific journal ‘The Lancet’ published on the 25th.
When COVID-19 becomes endemic, the risk of exposure to respiratory viral diseases such as the flu increases. As quarantine measures disappear, the possibility of encountering viruses in our daily lives is much greater than now.
The research team compared and analyzed clinical data and whether they were infected with other respiratory viruses in 6965 adults hospitalized for COVID-19 in the UK from February 6, 2020 to December 8, 2021.
As a result, 583 of them also had other respiratory diseases. Of these, 227 were co-infected with influenza virus, the cause of flu, 136 with adenovirus, which causes cold, and 220 with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes respiratory diseases. The research team found that patients co-infected with COVID-19 and the flu were particularly at risk compared to patients co-infected with COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.
During the same period, people with both COVID-19 and the flu had a four-fold higher risk of getting severe enough to receive invasive ventilation and a 2.4-fold higher risk of death than those with COVID-19 alone. Even if hospitalized for COVID-19, people infected with adenovirus or RSV were not at relatively increased risk of dying or receiving invasive ventilation.
The research team raised the possibility that Corona 19 and the influenza virus would co-exist next winter, and insisted that each vaccine be given. He also insisted that patients hospitalized for COVID-19 need to be tested to make sure they are not infected with the flu.
Kenneth Bailey, a professor at the University of Edinburgh’s Rosslyn Institute, told The Guardian on the 27th (local time), “If the COVID-19 and influenza virus spread together, the risk of simultaneous infection increases that much.” We need to change our treatment strategy so that we can receive it on a regular basis,” he said.
Professor Peter Openshaw, Imperial College London, said, “Because COVID-19 and the flu have different causative viruses and different treatment methods, especially high-risk groups need to get both vaccines. “It’s important to check for virus infection,” he said.
