Flu in the context of COVID-19

Both viruses are highly infectious respiratory diseases and share many of the same symptoms, such as coughing, fever, shortness of breath, and/or loss of taste and smell. Because of the difficulty in distinguishing the diseases from symptoms alone, if you are symptomatic you should isolate yourself from other people to reduce the risk of the infection spreading, particularly to vulnerable people, and get tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible. While both diseases can cause serious illness, COVID-19 is more likely to lead to health complications, admission to hospital and, in some cases, death – so getting tested is essential.

WHO recommends that people from the following 5 priority groups get vaccinated before the flu season starts, or as soon as possible thereafter. This is usually around October to November, after vaccines become available.

• Health-care workers. As health-care workers are more exposed to flu through their work, their chances of passing the infection on to others, including vulnerable patients at risk of severe disease, are increased. We also rely on these workers to run our health services, so we need them to stay healthy at work, not be off sick with the flu, particularly at a time of year when health services are often under the most pressure.
• Older people over 65 years. As the immune system weakens with age, our bodies become less effective at fighting infections, including flu. This means older people have a greater risk of developing serious illness, may need hospitalization and could even die from the disease.
• People with underlying conditions, such as diabetes, lung disease or heart disease. Weakened immune systems can increase the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and potentially death from flu.
• Pregnant women. Evidence shows that pregnant women are more prone to developing severe flu, which can have a negative impact on the unborn child. Vaccination protects the pregnant woman, the fetus and the baby once born.
• Children under 5 years. Young children are more likely to develop more severe illness, and have the potential to infect others, including older relatives.

Each year, countries plan to order sufficient numbers of vaccines to cover their eligible populations. While it’s true to say that there is a fine balance between supply and demand, it’s important that health-care workers and those in vulnerable groups are prioritized in vaccination programmes.

Both COVID-19 and flu are respiratory viruses and can be caught in the same ways – mainly through breathing in particles from an infected person when they cough, sneeze, speak or breathe, or when they pick up the viruses from contaminated surfaces. This means that the same measures for protecting yourself from COVID-19 apply to flu too:

• wash your hands regularly
• wear a mask when appropriate
• keep a safe distance from others – our recommendation is at least 1 metre
• avoid the 3Cs: closed, confined or crowded spaces
• ensure indoor spaces are well ventilated
• cough or sneeze into a tissue or your arm to avoid spreading the disease
• get vaccinated against both viruses if you’re eligible and when it’s your turn.

WHO/Europe carries out routine surveillance to understand the influenza virus situation in the Region, monitoring when it arrives, who it is affecting, how it is spreading and which strains are in circulation. Once the genetic make-up of these strains is understood, we share this information with laboratories across the Region and make recommendations on the most effective flu vaccines, co-ordinating with manufacturers to ensure they are updated as and when the situation changes. We also advise countries on the best ways to get a high level of vaccination uptake among their priority population groups.