INDIANAPOLIS — Get your flu shot now. Public health officials say don't wait because the stakes are higher this year.
Doctors said it is possible to be infected with the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. They are not certain yet how they will treat both at once.
Eskenazi Health started giving its employees their annual flu shots two weeks ago. They are mandatory for its staff. That's OK with Count Neal, a kitchen supervisor.
"I think they are great," he said. "Whatever it takes to keep me healthy."
It will take more to stay healthy this year than others. The annual flu season is beginning in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, creating an unprecedented threat.
Dr. Amy Beth Kressel, the medical director for infection prevention at Eskenazi Health, said yes, it is possible to be infected with both the flu and COVID-19.
"We don't know how influenza and COVID-19 will interact with each other. It is possible they could make each other worse," Dr. Kressel said.
She said the body's natural immune system may not be able to handle both viruses at the same time.
"They both can kind of suppress the immune system or COVID could make the immune system go into overdrive," she said.
What's worse, Dr. Kressel explained how a drug commonly used to combat the COVID -19 virus makes influenza worse.
"So if you have both viruses at the same time, the treatment for one could make it more difficult for the body to fight off the other," she said.
In a typical year, influenza kills about 35,000 people worldwide. COVID-19 has already claimed 200,000 lives in half that time.
Is this a scary proposition we are looking at right now?
"I am very concerned, and my colleagues are very concerned about how we will treat anybody who has both infections at the same time," Dr. Kressel said.
The prescribed precautions are familiar, and health officials insist they are effective: Wear a mask, practice social distancing, get a flu vaccination and get it early.
The CDC recommends getting a flu shot by the end of October.