Influenza can also lead to long-term damage
Long-Covid is a well-known term after the corona pandemic. But even after surviving the flu, there can be long-term health consequences. A research team from the USA is investigating what these look like and which organs are particularly affected.
Similar to corona, a flu infection can also have serious long-term consequences for hospital patients. US researchers point this out in the specialist journal "The Lancet Infectious Diseases". They observed and compared the health development of patients who were admitted to hospital due to coronavirus or influenza over a period of 18 months.
The group led by Ziyad Al-Aly from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) found, among other things, that the risk of certain serious health problems was lower in the acute phase (up to 30 days after the start of infection) of both coronavirus and influenza than in the period thereafter. On average, the risk of serious long-term consequences after a coronavirus infection was higher than after influenza.
Al-Aly and colleagues call the protracted effects of influenza "long flu", where "flu" is the short form of the English term for influenza. The term "long Covid" has also become established in Germany for the protracted effects of Covid-19. The study did not focus on the question of how often long Covid or long flu occurs in hospital patients.
"An important lesson we have learned from SARS-CoV-2 is that an infection that was originally thought to cause only a short illness can also lead to a chronic illness," Al-Aly is quoted as saying in a university press release.
Long-term problems after the flu
The researchers wanted to know whether and to what extent people with flu also have long-term health problems. They examined the cases of 81,280 patients who were admitted to hospital due to Covid-19 between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022. They compared their health development with the cases of 10,985 patients who were hospitalized for influenza between October 1, 2015 and February 28, 2019.
Over the 18 months in question, Covid-19 patients had a 51 percent higher risk of dying compared to flu patients (28.46 cases compared to 19.84 cases per 100 people). The health risk for corona patients was higher than for flu patients in nine out of ten organ systems considered. Only with regard to the lungs did flu patients have a higher risk of negative health consequences. The number of healthy life years lost (DALY - disability-adjusted life years) was 242.66 years per 100 people in the flu group and 287.43 years in the Covid-19 group.
Viral infections as the cause of chronic diseases
"The idea that Covid-19 or influenza are only acute illnesses overlooks their greater long-term impact on human health," emphasized Al-Aly. Doctors need to be more aware that viral infections are a significant cause of chronic diseases.
For both Covid-19 and seasonal influenza, vaccination could help prevent severe disease progression and reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, Al-Aly said. "Optimizing vaccination coverage must remain a priority for governments and health systems around the world." This is especially true for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
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- Besides Long Covid, which is associated with Covid-19, infectious diseases like flu can also lead to long-term health issues, such as organ damage.
- The study in "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" by US researchers revealed that influenza patients, similar to Covid-19 patients, experience higher risks of serious long-term health problems beyond the initial 30 days of infection.
- The research emphasizes the need to recognize that viral infections, including influenza and Covid-19, can cause chronic diseases and advocate for increased vaccination coverage to mitigate severe disease progression.
Source: www.ntv.de
