Dr Richard Pebody leads the High-threat Pathogen team and the Surveillance and Laboratory pillar of the COVID-19 Incident Support Management Team (IMST) at WHO/Europe. WHO/Europe is warning that cases of influenza and COVID-19 are likely to rise this autumn and winter season. We spoke to Dr Pebody to find out what we can do to prepare and how we can protect ourselves and those around us – particularly those who are vulnerable – and what threat a possible resurgence of influenza, alongside COVID-19, could have for countries and their people, and health systems.
Both viruses are highly infectious respiratory diseases and share many of the same symptoms, such as coughing, fever and shortness of breath.
Because of the difficulty in distinguishing the diseases from symptoms alone, if you are symptomatic you should isolate yourself from others 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, particularly in those who are unvaccinated and/or previously uninfected, is more likely to lead to health complications, admission to hospital and, in some cases, death, compared to influenza – so getting tested is essential.
No, the influenza vaccine cannot give you influenza
No, the viruses are different and therefore require different vaccines.
It is better to wait until you are given the all-clear from COVID-19 before getting an influenza vaccine to avoid the possibility of wrongly attributing any symptoms to the vaccine.