Ever since a woman in Israel was diagnosed with both at the start of January, people all over the world have started worrying about flurona and what it could mean for the world already battling COVID-19 and all its new variants.
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But what is flurona and how common is it? What are flurona symptoms and how many flurona cases are there?
Here is everything you need to know.
What is flurona?
Despite the name implying a combination, flurona is not a literal fusion of COVID-19 and the flu that had merged together to form some super pathogen that could spell destruction for our species.
Rather, ultimately, flurona is just the term for having both COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.
And not only is it not a new disease, it isn’t even a new phenomenon.
Despite the initial reports making their way around the world when a woman was confirmed to have both the flu and COVID-19, this was not figurative flurona patient zero.
No, flurona – though it wasn’t called that at the time – has been around for at least two years.
This man, along with his wife and two children, were early flurona cases, way back at the beginning of the pandemic.
And it isn’t just limited to these two places, either.
This patient, according to Salvana, was a Chinese national who had COVID-19, influenza and Streptococcus pneumonia all at the same time.
If flurona cases are nothing new, why are we only hearing about it now?
Because of an unrealized fear returning once again.
People began getting worried about both diseases spreading simultaneously in what some experts termed a “twindemic,” though rather than being about a new disease, it was about countries being able to handle this double outbreak.
With healthcare systems all over the world overwhelmed with rising COVID-19 cases, the fear of also having to deal with the flu was a serious concern.
But this twindemic never happened.
Why?
That’s unclear, but there are many possible reasons. Among the main ones is the fact that due to COVID-19 lockdowns and everyone wearing masks, flu season itself simply wasn’t as severe.
Now, however, we’re hearing about it again.
But there is another reason to be worried right now. Due to the prevalence of new variants like the Omicron variant and the newly discovered variant in France, the virus is especially contagious. Omicron has already been shown to be more transmissible than some prior strains, making cases of co-infections even more possible now.
Where has flurona been found?
Flurona is nothing new, so there are other cases. Since the recent high-profile case of an unvaccinated pregnant woman in Israel, the Jewish state has found other flurona cases, including another pregnant woman.
Brazil has found several cases as well, as have Hungary, the Philippines and the US.
Many cases have been found to be younger, though this isn’t too surprising – especially in children.
What are the symptoms of flurona? Can vaccines protect you from flurona?
As flurona is just having the flu and COVID-19 at the same time, the symptoms are exactly that.
The at-risk groups are also largely the same, such as frontline medical workers, elderly people, those with underlying conditions and people who are pregnant.
But that doesn’t mean everything is exactly the same.
Some people who contract flurona have worse symptoms than others, and largely, the reason for this is simple: Vaccinations.
“If you are vaccinated, the disease is very mild,” Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus gynecology director Arnon Vizhnitser told The Washington Post.
Both COVID-19 and the flu have vaccines available, and being inoculated – and in the case of COVID-19, getting the booster shot – is the best way of limiting the severity of flurona.
And as both diseases spread in a similar way, the way of preventing its spread is also similar: Social distancing and wearing masks.
Also, despite not being a new disease, there is a worry about having both at once – especially for certain at risk groups. This is because both viruses that make up flurona target the human respiratory system, which can make people struggle, such as children under the age of two and adults over the age of 65.
“When the immune system starts fighting a virus in the respiratory system in the lungs, that attack causes an inflammatory reaction that results in a production of more mucus in the lungs,” Dumois told ABC News, which can lead to less oxygen in the blood and difficulty breathing.
Other experts have also said something similar.
But, as noted by the WHO, preventative measures such as getting vaccinated, social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, ensuring ventilation and avoiding super spreader events are both ideal ways of keeping safe amid both outbreaks of this twindemic.