Health knowledge of western and oriental medicine taught by specialists
Many patients who visit the respiratory medicine department because of persistent cough in winter complain that they catch a cold even though they have been vaccinated against the flu, saying that they do not catch a cold well.
Another patient comes to the hospital to get a flu shot this year without fail, saying that he has never caught a cold since he got a flu shot last year and is doing well.
What is the connection between the flu shot and the common cold?
Fundamentally, colds and flu are caused by different types of viruses. The common cold is caused by a variety of non-lethal viruses, but the flu is caused by a specific viral infection called ‘influenza’.
Influenza caused by such influenza can sometimes be fatal to the elderly over 65 years of age, immunocompromised people, diabetes, kidney failure, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, chronic liver disease, cancer patients, pregnant women, etc. Therefore, influenza vaccination is recommended every year. It is recommended to fit.
Influenza vaccination is required every year because there are many types of influenza viruses, so different types of influenza often become prevalent every year.
Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) closely examines and predicts which types of influenza will be prevalent each year and creates new vaccines.
Colds are caused by hundreds of different causative bacteria, including rhinovirus and adenovirus, and symptoms such as runny nose, cough, sputum, and sore throat appear locally.
In most cases, it gets better on its own in 2-5 days without any special treatment if you take enough rest. On the other hand, in flu, the virus affects the whole body, so high fever and body aches like being beaten often appear together.
Influenza can be fatal for some patients, and historically, influenza pandemics have resulted in many deaths.
Representatively, the 1918 Spanish flu killed 25 million people, the 1957 Asian flu and the 1968 Hong Kong flu recorded millions of deaths. In 2009, Korea also suffered from measles due to an influenza pandemic called swine flu. / Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital Department of Pulmonary Medicine Professor Kang Yun-seong
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