As if being in the coronavirus pandemic was enough, we are coming out of the allergy season, and into flu season. All of which have some of the same symptoms.
While it was initially thought that getting the flu and contracting the coronavirus COVID-19 were separate, now it appears you can get both infections at once.
Having this double whammy might wreak havoc on your immune system and increase the risk of more serious illnesses.
In addition to your personal health, medical facilities may get overwhelmed by people with both illnesses, potentially wreaking havoc on hospital capacity.
“Once you get infected with the flu and some other respiratory viruses, it weakens your body,” said Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative.
“Your defenses go down, and it makes you vulnerable to getting a second infection on top of that.”
On their own, both Covid-19 and the flu can attack the lungs, potentially causing pneumonia, fluid in the lungs or respiratory failure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Each illness can also cause sepsis, cardiac injury and inflammation of the heart, brain or muscle tissues.
Because Covid-19 didn’t spread across the US until near the end of the last flu season, it’s too early to know exactly how much worse this “twin-demic” as some call it, could be, compared to having each virus on its own.
While getting the flu shot, may or may not prevent you from getting the flu, “the flu shot cannot defend you against coronavirus,” says Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN.
Just 45 percent of adults in the United States got the flu shot last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though the seasonal version of the disease is deadly, killing an average of 37,000 people every year over the past decade.
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