What is the relationship between influenza vaccination and Sars-Cov-2? A new study by the Monzino cardiology center reveals that in the period of the lockdown it was possible to observe an inversely proportional relationship between coverage of influenza vaccinations and the number of infections and deaths from Covid in the Italian regions. And what data in hand, a 1% increase in vaccination coverage would have made it possible to avoid 1,989 deaths from Covid 19.
Access and deaths
“What we did was link the regional data on last year’s flu vaccination rates with those on the spread of Covid in over 65s”, he explains Mauro Amato, researcher of the Monzino cardiology center and first author of the article. “A rather clear situation emerged from the results: the prevalence of Sars-Cov-2 infections, admissions to hospital with symptoms attributable to Covid, admissions to intensive care and deaths, all resulted higher in regions where vaccination had been lower ”.
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Causal link
A fact – explains Amato – which is also confirmed by the results of similar research carried out in countries such as Brazil. And that if for now it cannot prove a causal link between the flu vaccine and Covid, it still allows us to formulate some hypotheses. “It is known that in children Covid 19 presents with a lower incidence and symptoms that tend to be milder”, underlines Damiano Baldassare, coordinator of the study, head of the Unit for the study of morphology and arterial function of Monzino and professor of the Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine of the University of Milan. “Among the hypotheses proposed to explain this resistance there is also the fact that in the pediatric age one is more often subjected to vaccinations of some kind: it is known that vaccines can lead to cross immunity, or better trained, even against other infectious pathologies “.
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Synergy effect
In short, vaccines do not only protect against the pathogen they are addressed to, but tend to enhance the body’s immune reactions in a generalized way. And this could help defend against Sars-Cov-2 as well, decreasing the chances of infection and reducing the severity of symptoms and complications. “We have estimated that a 1% increase in vaccination coverage in over 65s could have avoided 78,560 infections, 2,512 hospitalizations, 353 hospitalizations in intensive care and 1,989 deaths from Covid-19”, concludes Amato. “The message that comes from our study is undoubtedly to encourage influenza vaccinations in the coming months, both for the over 65 and in the general population”. If vaccination makes the elderly and children more resistant – thinks Amato – it is likely that it will do the same in all age groups. And therefore the more people who get vaccinated, the more the population’s resistance to the virus will increase, and consequently its circulation will decrease.
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