Internal Medicine Department, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.
Hamidiye Health Services College, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.
Cent Eur J Public Health. 2021 Mar;29(1):14-17. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a6573.
We aimed to study the effect of seasonal influenza (flu) vaccination on the susceptibility to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
A total of 203 healthcare workers of a pandemic centre of Istanbul, Turkey, were included in this retrospective study. According to the presence or absence of flu vaccination, participants were divided into group 1 and group 2. A comparison of the rate of COVID-19 was done between these two groups. Also, the mean age and the sex ratio of females/males were evaluated and compared between these two groups.
Group 1 participants (n = 65) were older than participants in group 2 (n = 138) (p < 0.05). Despite of this, interestingly, the COVID-19 infection rate was lower in the 1st group (in comparison to the 2nd group) (p < 0.05).
Our study results showed that, even if low, the flu vaccination may have a protective effect on the susceptibility to COVID-19 infection. Using this beneficial adjuvant effect of the vaccine may help us in this unpredictable battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies are needed to confirm this assumption.
我们旨在研究季节性流感（流感）疫苗接种对 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）易感性的影响。
本回顾性研究纳入了土耳其伊斯坦布尔大流行中心的 203 名医护人员。根据是否接种流感疫苗，将参与者分为第 1 组和第 2 组。比较了这两组之间 COVID-19 的发病率。此外，评估并比较了这两组之间的平均年龄和女性/男性性别比例。
第 1 组（n = 65）参与者的年龄大于第 2 组（n = 138）（p <0.05）。尽管如此，有趣的是，第 1 组的 COVID-19 感染率较低（与第 2 组相比）（p <0.05）。
我们的研究结果表明，即使流感疫苗接种率较低，也可能对 COVID-19 感染的易感性具有保护作用。利用这种疫苗的有益佐剂作用可能有助于我们应对 COVID-19 大流行这场不可预测的战斗。需要进一步的研究来证实这一假设。
