Doctors Stress Importance of Flu Shots, Warn of Possible 'Twindemic' this Fall

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Doctors are worried about a possible 'twindemic' this fall, warning of what could happen when flu season and COVID-19 overlap.

Both influenza and COVID-19 are contagious respiratory illnesses and both have similar symptoms.

Right now, one big simple thing doctors are stressing is to get a flu shot.

Last year about 45% of adults got a flu shot according to the Centers for Disease Control.

This year doctors are stressing as many as possible need to get one because it can be difficult to tell whether you have the flu or COVID-19, if many become sick that could overwhelm hospitals and testing capacity.

The symptoms are similar, but so are the ways we prevent both.

When it comes to the flu, the CDC advises people to avoid contact with sick people, cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, wash your hands often, avoid touching your face and to clean surfaces frequently.

There's a very similar list for COVID-19 you're advised to avoid contact with those who are sick, socially distance form those outside your household, cover your nose and mouth with a mask, cover coughs and sneezes, wash your hands often, avoid touching your face and clean frequently.

Some wonder if what we’re doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 could help prevent the spread of the flu?

"There is some potential that we won’t see a terrible flu season perhaps because people are practicing more social distancing," says Dr. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and professor in the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School. "It’s possible, but we cetainly can’t stay it with confidence."

"The main issue though is we already know even in the warm weather months indoor facilities, small rooms, poor ventiatlion, close contact between people those are things that mediate the greatest amount of COVID-19 spread," says Dr. Andrew Pekosz, virologist, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance. "As we go into the winter we naturally move inside. We spend more time in smaller rooms. We spend more time in confined spaces. So there absolutely becomes an increase in the number of times a person enters an environment where COVID-19 spread can be optimized. I think it is a concern from that level alone."

Doctors stress we have a vaccine for the flu. We don't yet have one for COVID and the flu vaccine is an extra tool in addition to masks and social distancing that could help reduce flu cases this winter.