What is ‘flurona’, and should you worry about it during flu season? What experts say
After Israel, California, Texas and others reported their first known cases of a patient having both the flu and COVID-19, ideas and panic about “flurona” began to spread.
As coronavirus infections are running high with the highly transmissible omicron variant, the odds of being infected with both the flu and COVID-19 are higher, and the U.S. will see more cases of this “flurona” in the near future, experts warn.
But don’t freak out just yet — If you are vaccinated against both influenza and COVID-19, you are unlikely to be majorly affected by this flu and COVID-19 combination, experts say.
But those who are unvaccinated for both the flu and coronavirus should take note of the risks, doctors say.
What is ’flurona?’
Flurona, a term combining both the flu and coronavirus, is not a separate disease but is instead a term coined to describe a person who has both respiratory infections.
But it’s not exactly a new concept.
Infections of both respiratory ailments were noted as early as 2020, according to a June study in the journal Systematic Review. Approaching fall 2021, doctors and experts began to warn of a potential “twindemic” of both the flu and coronavirus if people were not vaccinated for both.
The flu was also at a low in 2020, due to social distancing, mask-wearing and lockdown restrictions in a pre-COVID-19 vaccine world.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically urges people to be vaccinated for influenza by the end of October. This flu season, the CDC predicted a potential “early and possibly severe flu season” due to a lack of population immunity since COVID-19 preventive measures began in March 2020.
The illnesses spread the same way, the World Health Organization notes: When an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks or breathes, droplets can infect others nearby.
Doctors can test for both the flu and coronavirus to determine if a person is infected with both, or with one.
Flurona worries across the world
Israel recorded its first known case of flurona at the close of 2021, officials announced Dec. 30. The case was in an unvaccinated pregnant woman, The Times of Israel reported, but authorities said the case was mild. She was released Dec. 30 from the hospital in good condition.
Israel officials fear the potential “twindemic” as flu cases have spiked in recent weeks, the outlet reported.
Worries of the double infection have also reached the United States.
Texas Children’s Hospital announced on Jan. 3 it had a case of a child with both COVID-19 and influenza.
“This is one confirmed case and, of course, we’ll be working with our colleagues across the country to see if there are more cases and whether we will see a distinct pattern in these cases,” Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief and COVID-19 command center co-leader at the hospital, said, according to USA Today.
A Houston teenager tested positive for both over Christmas, and Los Angeles reported California’s first case on Jan. 5, news outlets reported. The Los Angeles case was in a teenage boy who had mild symptoms, according to KCAL.
But what are experts saying?
Similar to the cases reported, experts are saying that a double infection in previously healthy individuals, especially ones vaccinated, may not make the COVID-19 case worse.
“I expect to see plenty of co-infections (of flu and COVID-19) going forward, but I don’t see anything that suggests it makes COVID infections worse,” Dr. Frank Esper, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, told USA Today. “Those are two viral pathogens that we actually have medicines for.”
“If you are vaccinated, the disease is very mild,” Arnon Vizhnitser, the director of gynecology at Israel’s Beilinson Hospital, told The Washington Post.
Additionally, the age groups that may be seeing the double infection the most may be children.
“Hands down, the No. 1 predisposition for having more than one virus at the same time is your age, and it’s really children under 5,” Esper told USA Today. “They all have virus running rampant and swap them like trading cards.”
Experts still caution, especially the unvaccinated and the vulnerable, that the respiratory illnesses could be “catastrophic” to the immune system.
“I’m definitely more concerned (in 2021) than I was a year ago,” Dr. Adrian Burrowes, a family medicine physician and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Central Florida, told CNN in September. “And the reason why is because now we have pretty significant Covid fatigue amongst the American population.”
The CDC says COVID-19 and the flu, both respiratory infections, can both cause fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle pain, diarrhea, headache, sore throat and fatigue. An infection of both can lead to serious complications, doctors say.
“The two together definitely could be more injurious to the lungs and cause more respiratory failure,” Dr. Michael Matthay, a professor of medicine and a critical care specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told CNN.
How can you prevent ’the double whammy’ of flurona?
Doctors say the easiest and most effective way you can prevent coming down with flurona is to get both flu and COVID-19 shots.
As of Dec. 4, about 43% of children 6 months to 17 years had been vaccinated for the flu, USA Today reported.
According to CDC survey data from December, almost 30% of people 18 and over in America did not plan to get a flu shot, Forbes reported.
McClatchy News previously reported that 60% of Americans said in October they may delay or skip their flu shot.
Anyone over the age of 6 months can receive a influenza vaccine, so doctors urge parents to get their children the shot and for all adults to get the shot themselves.
Most children over the age of 5 can get a coronavirus vaccine. About 62% of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to CDC data.
“We should be taking every precaution to protect ourselves and our loved ones from either virus. Getting vaccinated is one of the best ways to avoid the double whammy of flu and COVID,” Dr. Mark Rosenberg, then-president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said in a September news release. “Unfortunately, misinformation is rampant, and the risk of getting or spreading either virus increases as more people dismiss proven public health protocols.”
Wearing masks, social distancing and coughing into the crook of your elbow are also ways to help prevent the spread of both COVID-19 and the flu.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 2:32 PM with the headline "What is ‘flurona’, and should you worry about it during flu season? What experts say."
