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Children who receive a seasonal flu shot are less likely to suffer from symptoms of COVID-19 infection, promising study finds
- US researchers examined a group of more than 900 children in Arkansas
- Half were vaccinated with the seasonal flu vaccine and the other half did not receive it
- Data shows children who have received a flu shot are 29% less likely to develop symptoms of Covid-19
Children who receive the annual flu shot are less likely to develop symptoms of Covid-19, study finds.
Researchers examined the medical records of 905 children who tested positive for Covid-19 when they were admitted to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital System between February 1 and August 30, 2020. About half had received the vaccine against seasonal flu.
However, data shows that children who received a flu shot were 29% less likely to develop symptoms of Covid-19 after infection with the coronavirus.
Scientists also found that people vaccinated against the flu had a 32% reduced risk of developing respiratory symptoms and a 33% lower risk of developing serious illness.
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who led the study, believe the flu vaccine may provide immunological protection against Covid due to a biological phenomenon called “viral interference.”
Data shows children who have received a flu shot are 29% less likely to develop symptoms of Covid-19 if they are infected with the coronavirus (stock)
“We know that the growth of a virus can be inhibited by a previous viral infection,” says Dr. Anjali Patwardhan, co-author of the study.
‘[Virus interference] can occur even when the first invading virus is an inactivated virus, as in the case of the flu vaccine ”.
Almost two-thirds of patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had no symptoms, but of those who did, the majority (88%) were only mild cases.
People vaccinated against the flu also have a 32% reduced risk of developing respiratory symptoms, study finds (stock)
Throughout the pandemic, it has been found repeatedly that children are largely unaffected by the coronavirus infection, unlike adults.
They represent a tiny percentage of symptomatic cases, let alone hospitalizations and deaths.
For example, only 32 of the 74,786 Covid-related deaths in hospitals registered by NHS England as of February 4, 2021 were in people under the age of 19, or around 4.2%.
Separate data from the Bureau of National Statistics shows that as of January 22, there were 103,394 deaths linked to Covid-19, and only 11 of them were in people under the age of 14 – 1.35%.
However, the role of children as carriers of the virus remains relatively unknown, with experts questioning whether they can harbor the virus and spread it while remaining asymptomatic.
“Research on the pediatric population is essential because children play an important role in viral transmission,” said Dr Patwardhan.
“Understanding the relationship and coexistence of other viruses alongside COVID-19 and knowing the immunization status of the pediatric patient can help deploy the right strategies for best results.
The research has been published in Cereus.
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