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The flu season is still a concern: it has resulted in up to 45 million diseases and61 000 deaths in the United States each year since 2010, according to American centers for control and prevention of diseases (CDC). However, this yearThe flu is aggravated by Covid-19, who sharesMany similar features. While the spread of influenza and Covid-19 could simultaneously rub the health system considerably, it is also possible that mitigation efforts to prevent infective coronavirus can better helpProtect us from the flu this year.

Here's all you need to know about the 2020-to-2021 flu season and how you can protect yourself better. And for places to avoid right now, check these are the4 places people went before receiving COVID, the study says.

Although there is no guarantee, here are some positive news to start: Australia and other southern hemisphere countries have already had lightweight seasons this year, which could suggest a more season. sweet for the United States. According toUniversity of California San Francisco (UCSF).

Since places like Australia present the flu season earlier than the United States, they often reflect what is coming in the northern hemisphere. "For example, last year, there was a particularly influenza influenza season in Australia that also preserved a bad influenza season for us too," saysDavid Aronoff, MD, Director of the Infectious Disease Division at the University of Vanderbilt Medicine School in Nashville, Tennessee.

However, experts warn that it is a particularly unique year with the presence of COVID-19 and even a sweet influenza may overwhelm the health system. In addition, colder temperatures and variations in prevention measures across the United States can generate different results than seen in the southern hemisphere.

Experts believe that the softer influenza season in Australia could be due to factors such as social distance and travel restrictions. In other words, themeasures we take to prevent the propagation of COVID-19 could also help reduce the spread of influenza. As Covid-19, the flu is a respiratory pathogen, which means that it is spread through the breath of one person to another.

"Keep our distance between other people, wearing fabric coatings when we are in public and around others and that we pay special attention to hand hygiene are probably likely to reduce the transmission of a Range of airway viral infections, including influenza, "says Aronoff." This is another really good reason why we should not let the strategies we are currently using to prevent CVIV-19 transmission. "

And to stop spreading, here isThe 10 best advice from Dr. Faisci to protect you from COVID-19.

This year, the CDC says it'sMore important than ever to get your influenza shot. Although the influenza vaccine does not protect against Covid-19, it has been shown that it has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of influenza, hospitalization and death.

In addition, protecting you from influenza will save health resources for CVIV-19 patient care because it is likely to both influenza and virus that causes CVIV-19 willspread throughout the fall and winter.

When you get your influenza shot this year, you will also protect those who risk you around you.

"The shot of the flu reduces theseverity of symptoms And shortened the time someone is contagious, "says Aronoff. would be a reason to celebrate. "

Although some wondered if the supply chain for influenza vaccines could be disrupted this year,Anthony Fauci, MD, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), confirmed that this would not be the case in an interview with theAmerican Cardiology College.

"We will deliver the seasonal flu vaccine in the same way we do each year," said Fuci. "Vaccines will be commercially available and given to the doctor's office, pharmacies and all places where it is usually given."

This is another important reason to get your influenza shot: it will help youAvoid a case of pneumonia, which can also occur in tandem with COVID-19.

"It's always important to get the flu vaccine because it does not prevent the flu," says Aronoff. "But it also seems to protect against pneumonia, perhaps because some people suffer from bacterial pneumonia as a complication of the flu. »

Influenza is a frequent cause of pneumonia, especially in young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with certain chronic health conditions, depending on theAmerican Lung Association. influenza cases that lead to pneumonia can be serious and fatal. And for more on your respiratory health, see17 warning signs Your lungs attempt to send you.

While it's important to get vaccinated against the flu, you will have to wait until you are healthy to do itIf you are diagnosed with COVID-19. The CDC haspublished advice indicating that the data on the effects of giving influenza vaccination to people Covid-19 is limited, clinicians should consider delaying the administration of influenza vaccine with suspected or confirmed CVIV-19 patients until They are no longer sick.

It is important to know the symptoms of bothThe flu and covid-19 So you and your doctor can accurately diagnose your condition. The test may be necessary to confirm a diagnosis since the flu and Covid-19share many features, According to the CDC.

They both can cause symptoms such as fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, sore throat, flowing or nose stuffy, muscle pain or body aches and headaches. With both diseases, one or more days can pass between infection and when you start feeling symptoms. And for more signs of coronavirus,These are the 51 more current Covid symptoms you might have.

Because the flu and Covid-19 share many similar symptoms, there is a possibility thatThe tests can be stretched. The same reagents The substances necessary for the realization of the tests are necessary for both influenza and Covid-19, which can increase the demand, according to the UCSF.

However, in the interview with the American College of Cardiology, Fauci said he hoped that a test designed to detect both influenza and Covid-19 would be available this fall.

"I hope the time we arrive in the fall, the problems we have seen with the test availability and the deadlines will be solved and people will be able to go to the office of a doctor and to be tested at the same time the flu and Covid, "said Fauci. "It's not the norm right now, but there are a number of companies that started working on a test that tests both at the same time. »

While a test will be needed to establish an accurate diagnosis, a key symptom that could alert you to a COVID-19 infection compared to influenza: a change in yoursense of taste or smell.

"With the flu, we generally not see anosmie, which means a loss of sense of smell or a change in our sense of taste," says Aronoff. "Influenza has also not quite the tendency to cause the kind of neurological problems we observe with COVID-19. And for more useful information directly in your inbox,Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Now you have become accustomed tooften wash your hands or usinghand disinfectant To prevent the propagation of COVID-19. Healthy Hygiene will continue to be important throughout the flu season.

"Our greetings have changed significantly, we do not shake the hands, we are unlikely that people hugging or kissing we have not seen a long time, and paying attention to cleaning our hands," says Aronoff. "These things and themselves are likely to interrupt the transmission of influenza. »

Wash hands can often help stop the spread of germs and reduce the risk of respiratory diseases such as influenza, saysThe CDC. If you can not wash your hands with soap and water, use a hand-based hands disinfectant. Washing hands and good regular hygiene habits were associated with a lower risk of influenza infection in a 2016 study published in the journalMedicine (Baltimore).

This year,wearing face coatings Continue to be an important part of Covid-19 transmission prevention, but it could also be the first year, they are commonly used for influenza prevention.

"The use of face coatings has undeniably the power to reduce the threat of influenza," says Aronoff. "I could see a situation in the coming years where we see the routine deployment of facial coatings quite voluntarily during the winter months. I think we are now fully adopted these inexpensive fundamental habits for hygiene because of the horrible pandemic of the covidation pandemic. 19. "

People with influenza can extend it to others up to about six feet and influenza viruses are mainlyspill through respiratory droplets When an infected person coughs, sneezed or speaks, according toThe CDC. You are the most contagious with the flu's first to four days after you get sick, but most healthy adults can infect others starting a day before the symptoms grow - that's why it will be so important To continue to follow the social distribution guidelines this flu season.

"We must make sure we make sure that the things we should do for the containment of COVID-19 are also directly applicable to influenza," said Fauci in the American Cardiology Interview College. "Keep a distance of six feet avoiding crowds andavoid crowded places like bars-And actually, maybe even close the bars in some places. "

The flu diffuses throughout the year, but the activity of influenza in the US tends to begin to increase in October, according toThe CDC. This can make a challenge this year, sincecold weather Can force more people inside and in neighborhoods with each other, which also increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19.

It is better to get your influenza shot at the end of October, says the CDC. In the activity of American influenza culminates usually between December and February.

Whileis not a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 again, Drugs generally used to treat influenza could be used to relieve similar symptoms in CVIV-19 patients this flu season.

Antiviral drugs are currently experiencing tests to determine if they can be used to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of COVID-19, depending on theRochester Regional Health System in New York. For the moment, if you test positive for COVID-19, ask your doctor about that surcharges that can helpYour symptoms.

Some things you do to feel better when you have the flu to stay well hydrated, to rest sufficiently and take medicine to reduce fever or pain - can also help you feel better when you have COVID-19 , according toHARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL.

And while antibiotics will not cure Covid-19, a doctor may prescribe them in serious cases, according to theMedical system from the University of Maryland: Viruses like Covid-19attack the lungs And prevent them from inflating completely can cause a secondary bacterial infection, which antibiotics can help you.

It is possible to test positive for influenza (and other respiratory infections) at the same time as Covid-19, saysThe CDC.

"This is one of the reasons we are concerned about the co-circulation of these two viruses at the same time in our population," said Arronoff. "Statistically, the more COVID-19 activity we have coupled with more influenza activities, the more likely someone is going to be the unlucky recipient of both infections at the same time. We do not know what it means For this person health, but I can not imagine it's a good scenario. "

In the end, there is still a lot to learn about this influenza season and how the Covid-19 pandemic will be affected. "I think we have to be honest and say in advance that we are really not sure what will happen," said Façi in the American Cardiology Interview College. "The worst case scenario is that we have a very active influenza season that overlaps COVID-19 respiratory infection."

However, he noted that there was another possible scenario that epidemiologists sometimes see: it is possible that when a respiratory infection like seasonal influenza occurs during another RHANGIE respiratory disease continues, there is no has enough room for one of them which means that the disease has spread and "bump" the other.

The best steps you can take right now to protect you get your influenza vaccine and continue to follow the current COVID-19 guidelines (such as wearing a face covering in public, maintaining a six feet distance from those you Do not live, and wash your hands regularly).