It’s that time of year. And by the end of the month, I’ll comfortably say, “I’ve been shot.”
It’s respiratory virus season. That means flu (Influenza), COVID (Coronavirus Disease 2019), and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). I am a firm believer in the value of vaccinations, and the recommendations we have followed for so many years before recent confusion about, and upheavals of, long-standing protocols.
But I confess that I don’t get everything that is recommended in the way of immunizations.
Vaccination against flu is a no-brainer, for me. It’s the one shot I would never skip. Flu is so common and the consequences so potentially serious that vaccination seems mandatory. The one time I missed it, over twenty years ago, I had a devastating case of flu that had me in bed and out of commission during the holiday season at the end of the year. With some diseases, vaccination one year carries at least modest protection over to the next year, but the influenza virus changes so much from season to season, that there is virtually no immunity carried over from one year to the next. Each year, the flu vaccine is newly constituted, based on what experts believe will be the prominent circulating strains of the virus.
The coronavirus, the cause of COVID, does change from time to time, but it doesn’t follow the same marked year-to-year pattern of alteration as the influenza virus. And there seems to be some continued protection from both previous COVID vaccinations and from prior infections with the coronavirus itself. That dissuades me somewhat from getting a new COVID vaccination this year, since I have had four COVID immunizations in the past few years and at least two infections with the coronavirus that causes COVID. Additionally, the vaccination shot against COVID always leaves me with a very sore arm at the injection site, and excessive fatigue and malaise for about 36 hours. These aren’t serious side effects, but they are unpleasant and disruptive to my usual routine.
As for RSV, I had not given much thought to it in prior years, but there seems to be new interest and awareness about the condition this season. Certainly, advertisements for the vaccine are more prominent. The recommendations for RSV vaccine differ greatly from those for influenza and COVID. While the recommendations for the latter two conditions are for yearly immunizations, the current schedule for RSV is a one-time vaccination. It is especially recommended for older patients, and particularly for those with chronic conditions like heart and lung disease, liver and kidney problems, diabetes, and those who are immunocompromised (weakened immune system). Since I may qualify by age, but not by the other criteria, and I don’t know how my body would react to the vaccine, I’ve decided to forego it.
One thing I do during respiratory illness season is avoid crowds whenever and wherever I can. This perhaps somewhat limits my activities, but I don’t find the privations especially severe. I also try to practice what I call “selective respiration,” which just means either forcefully exhaling, or at least holding my breath, when passing close to someone coughing, sneezing, or breathing heavily as in running. Since these respiratory illnesses are basically transmitted by inhaling the virus, the “selective respiration” tends to limit that likelihood. A small but practical step, perhaps, in reducing the chance of illness.
The urgency I feel in avoiding these respiratory infections is really two-fold. In the first place, they can be serious infections, especially in older individuals. Patients with COVID, flu and RSV can easily wind up in the hospital, and a significant percentage of hospitalized patients wind up in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and even on a ventilator (breathing machine).
But just as important as avoiding the illnesses themselves is the protective effect of the vaccines against various forms of cardiovascular disease. This protection extends to heart attacks, strokes, and certain forms of heart failure and inflammatory conditions involving the heart. We’ve discussed the interplay of inflammation and heart disease in a previous edition of the blog, and the vaccines against respiratory diseases prevent the inflammation that would accompany infection with any of the viruses.
So, for several reasons, get vaccinated this year and every year against those viruses that can cause serious infections in their own right, and can lead to perhaps even more serious conditions involving your cardiovascular system.
Be warned, be prepared, be vaccinated.
Leave a Reply