What is flurona? Contraction between “flu”, the flu, and the coronavirus, should we fear this new pathology? Futura takes stock of what is currently known on this subject.
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The coronavirus has not finished talking about it! Not a single week goes by without something new making the headlines: a new vaccine, a new treatment, a new variant … Here is the latest news to start 2022: flurona. At the end of December, an unvaccinated pregnant woman was hospitalized in Israel. Her case is special since she was infected with two virus at the same time: that of the flu and that of SARS-CoV-2. Doctors invented a word to describe this pathology, flurona, contraction of flu (flu) and coronavirus.
This is not the first case
Flurona is neither a new virus nor a new variant. It is simply a co-infection with two viruses at the same time. If the case is not trivial, it is not new. And if this is the first time that we have talked about flurona, it is not the first time that patients contract the flu and SARS-CoV-2 at the same time. Cases had been reported in the United States in 2020, but also in France, Paris and Lyon. And it is possible that other cases have existed without being declared. In a file dated September 30, 2021, theWHO (World Health Organization) specifies ” that it is possible to catch both diseases at the same time “.
It is possible to prevent flurona
The great fear of the Israeli authorities is that flurona represents a potentially more contagious or deadly disease than the flu or the Covid alone. The young woman hospitalized in Israel actually presented rather mild symptoms, a simple difficulty breathing. Today, she is out of danger and returned to her home.
If there is no (or not yet) treatment for flurona, a vaccine is available for each of these two viruses. It is even possible to receive both vaccines on the same day, one in each arm! L’WHO specifies that ” the most effective way to prevent hospitalization and severe forms of Covid-19 and flu is vaccination with both vaccines “.
As a reminder, in France, the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is available from 5 years and recommended for all. Three doses are necessary for optimum efficacy against the variant currently predominant in France, the variant Omicron. the vaccine against influenza is accessible to everyone from 6 months. Only one dose is needed. It is recommended for the most fragile people: people over 65, pregnant women, obese people, people with chronic pathology.
While waiting to know whether the co-infection with the Omicron-SARS-CoV-2 variant and the flu virus becomes a frequent pathology at the start ofwinter, the barrier gestures and vaccination remain the best preventions.
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