Scientists from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that children who get a seasonal influenza shot are much less most likely to suffer symptoms from a COVID-19 infection. The finding originates from an evaluation of more than 900 children diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020.

“It is known that the growth of one virus can be inhibited by a previous viral infection,” said Anjali Patwardhan, MD, professor of pediatric rheumatology and child health. “This phenomenon is called virus interference, and it can occur even when the first virus invader is an inactivated virus, such as the case with the flu vaccine.”

Patwardhan examined documents from 905 pediatric patients identified with COVID-19 in between February as well as August 2020 to establish each patient’s influenza vaccination history. She discovered the COVID-19 positive kids that obtained the flu vaccine in the existing flu period had reduced probabilities of experiencing signs and symptoms, breathing troubles or severe condition. She also found that children with COVID-19 that obtained the pneumococcal injection also had lower odds of experiencing symptomatic illness.

“Research on the pediatric population is critical because children play a significant role in influencing viral transmission,” Patwardhan said. Comprehending the relationship as well as co-existence of other viruses along with COVID-19 and also understanding the vaccination status of the pediatric individual might assist in releasing the appropriate approaches to obtain the most effective end results.

Patwardhan said it will likewise be important to explore the link in between vaccinations as well as COVID-19 symptoms in a larger geographical-multiracial research study.

“Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the higher incidence of COVID-19 in minority populations may also reflect their low vaccination rate apart from other health inequalities,” Patwardhan said.

https://medicine.missouri.edu/news/study-shows-flu-vaccine-lessens-covid-19-symptoms-children