Posts purporting that those who have had the flu shot in the past 10 years would test positive for the novel coronavirus has been circulating in social media.
Experts, however, were quick to disprove such claims after saying that SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is in no ways related to the seasonal flu. In addition, there is no basis for such claims since data from approved COVID-19 tests say otherwise.
In the said post that have been circulating in different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, a supposed Dr. Rashid Buttar said that, "If you've gotten flu shots during the past ten years, you will test positive for the Wuhan strain of the Covid-19 flu." The claims have been passed on and shared in teh said websites since April18, 2020.
Meanwhile, the chief of the infectious diseases department at Wake Forest Baptists Health, Dr. John Sanders, said that he was very happy to say that the claims were unsubstantiated allegations which only aim to spread fear of vaccination.
Furthermore, Sanders told AFP that serologic and molecular tests that have been and are being validated do not show any cross-reactivity with antibodies which were generated from the influenza vaccines.
Supporting Sanders' statement, Dr. Jacco Boon, an infectious disease professor from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, affirmed that such claims were false. He explained that COVID-19 and the flu are caused by two entirely different viruses which are completely unrelated.
The doctor who spread the 'false claims'
The doctor whose name appears on the posts, Dr. Rashup Buttar, has had a history of spreading false information and has been cited several times by the North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB). In addition to this, he also received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration after he was reported to have peddled misbranded, unapproved, and adulterated drugs.
In several videos that have been uploaded on Youtube, Buttar claimed that those who have had flu vaccines may test false positive on COVID-19. However, the said videos have been taken down by the video-sharing website for violating their content standards.
However, these false claims on flu vaccination are still available online, as others have recorded them.
Getting the Flu Shot may Help One Survive COVID-19.
Contradicting the false information that has been circulating in social media, experts even said that getting flu shots may be able to help people protect themselves from COVID-19.
Whilst it may not be able to prevent COVID-19 infection, Dr. Lulu Bravo, Director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV), said that getting the flu shot as well as the pneumonia vaccine will shield one's body against complications caused by COVID-19.
According to Dr. Bravo, secondary infections such as influenza and bacterial pneumococcal diseases can worsen the condition of COVID-19 patients. Thus, experts are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated for preventable diseases in order to arm the body's first line of defense against infections.
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