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Flu and COVID-19 are a dangerous combination

Flu and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses, but you can have both at the same time.

A word of advice from the experts this week to avoid What's Going Around, or will be soon, the flu.  

Medical providers say September and October are prime for getting the flu vaccine.

They say it's especially this important this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Flu and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses, but you can have both at the same time.  

Medical experts say that it is difficult to tell the two illnesses apart and that testing is required.  

“The main symptoms of the flu are fever, a cough and maybe a little bit of a runny nose,” Dr. Mike Patrick of Nationwide Children’s Hospital said. “You can get a sore throat sometimes you'll have vomiting and diarrhea. It's really the same for COVID and it shouldn't surprise us because they're both viruses that affect the upper respiratory and the lower respiratory tract.”  

Dr. Patrick and others in emergency medicine are urging everyone six months and older to be vaccinated against the flu.  

Additionally, pregnant women and people with certain chronic health conditions should be vaccinated. Most people with an egg allergy can get a flu shot.  

There are rare exceptions. The CDC says people with an allergy to any of the ingredients in the vaccine should talk with the doctor first.  

People with Guillain-Barré Syndrome or a history of this paralyzing illness should not get vaccinated for the flu.

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