Podcast

Fend Off Flu with Dr. Shantanu Agrawal

Author(s):

With the concept of a “twindemic” becoming more realistic than ever, experts are stressing that preventive practices, and vaccination, address both flu and COVID-19.

Episode highlights

0:16 Intro
1:40 Fend Off Flu
2:20 Projections for the 2021-22 flu season
5:54 Differences between flu and COVID-19 mRNA vaccines
11:27 Risk of SARS-CoV-2 and flu co-infection
13:39 The importance of early diagnosis
15:50 Simultaneous vaccinations?
17:00 Vaccinating for flu while SARS-CoV-2 positive
18:08 Flu education efforts
20:16 Outro

At a time when 7-day averages of new daily COVID-19 cases remain above 100,000 in the US and influenza cases indicate a return to form after a quieted 2020-21 flu season, it’s difficult to prioritize preventing one respiratory virus over another.

With the concept of a “twindemic” becoming more realistic than ever, experts are stressing that preventive practices, and vaccination, address both flu and COVID-19.

In the December 2021 episode of Lungcast, Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Chief Health Officer of Anthem, Inc., joins the podcast on behalf of the philanthropic arm of the company, Anthem Foundation, which is working collaboratively with the American Lung Association (ALA) to inform everyone how to best keep themselves and others healthy this flu season through a campaign called Fend Off Flu.

Lungcast is a monthly respiratory health podcast series from the ALA produced by HCPLive.

ALA Chief Medical Officer Al Rizzo, MD, talks with Agrawal on various matters of coinciding flu and COVID-19 risks, current vaccine recommendations and options for both, the evolving field of respiratory virus testing, and the greater education goals of Fend Off Flu.

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