A new study by researchers in Michigan found a strange and somewhat unexplained link between flu vaccination and reducing the risk and severity of Covid-19 infection.
The scientists examined the medical records of more than 27,000 patients tested for Covid-19 up to and including July 2020.
Of the 27,201 study participants, those who received their flu vaccine in the previous year were less likely to test positive for the coronavirus than their flu vaccine-free counterparts, with 1,218, or 4.5%, testing positive, of according to national averages.
After controlling for demographic variables such as ethnicity, race, sex, age and underlying medical conditions, only 4% of influenza vaccine recipients tested positive for Covid-19, but that number increased to 4.9% of cases positive in the unvaccinated cohort.
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Although the difference between the two groups may seem modest, it is responsible for a 24% reduction in the chances of a positive test for coronavirus, which should not be sniffed.
The reason for this statistically significant discrepancy is still a mystery, and it may not be for any medical reason, but rather the result of more responsible lifestyle choices on the part of the individuals in question, although this has not yet been proven definitively. .
“It is possible that patients who receive the flu vaccine are also people who are practicing more social distance and following the CDC guidelines,” says Cardiologist Marion Hofmann Bowman of the University of Michigan.
“However, it is also plausible that there may be a direct biological effect of the flu vaccine on the immune system relevant to the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
One possible explanation may be something called ‘trained immunity’, whereby patients who have previously been exposed to unrelated pathogens have a more ‘prepared’ immune system that is ready and able to fight a new pathogen, with varying degrees of success. . Cross-reactivity of vaccines is an area of great interest, but it will require years of research before any definitive causal link can be proven.
Similar results have been confirmed in previous studies worldwide, but within the Michigan cohort, at least, Covid-19 patients who received the flu vaccine in the previous year were less likely to require hospitalization and ventilation.
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