Delay or Giving Up of Influenza Vaccination Induced by Unscientific Journalism Makes Influenza Outbreak and Its Subsequent Cardiovascular Death Surges Especially in Elderly

摘要

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which started in Wuhan, China in December 2019, is still in progress globally under the situation of no vaccine or definite treatment developed, and the situation of the Republic of Korea is not so different. Then, the northern hemisphere enters winter season, and spreading period of seasonal influenza starts. Therefore, Korea has the potential to suffer from double troubles of respiratory viral disease, COVID-19 and seasonal influenza together. According to the WHO report, COVID-19 is predicted to have a crude mortality rate of 3%–4% and an infection mortality rate lower than that.1 According to an announcement by the group of Verity et al.2 and the China CDC3 in March, 2020, during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China, the fatality rate is 0.9% in patients without previous medical illness, 10.5% for patients with cardiovascular disease, and 14.8% for elderly patients over 80 years of age. Older age was an critical independent factor associated with severe infection requiring intensive care unit treatment or use of a ventilator and death.2,3