Florona: The combination of flu and corona is the thing you should be afraid of

In Israel, there has been one case of a pregnant woman being infected with both viruses at the same time, and doctors warn that this combination could be a catastrophe for the immune system.

Walla!

health

06/01/2022

Thursday, 06 January 2022, 06:11 Updated: 06:43

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Last week, the first case of a woman suffering from a combination of influenza and corona was identified in Israel, to which the nickname 'Flurona' (Flurona - the bread of Flu and Corona) was attached.

The patient is a pregnant woman in her thirties who has not been vaccinated for corona.

She was treated at Beilinson Hospital, a combination of drugs against corona and flu, and a few days later was released to her home in good condition, according to the hospital report.

The term Florona was coined as described to describe a state of simultaneous infection with influenza and corona viruses.

"We are currently seeing a situation of high influenza morbidity in parallel with an increase in corona morbidity, so there is a high chance of cases of combined infection," said Dr. Nadav Davidovich, director of the Ben Gurion University School of Public Health and a member of the epidemiology team advising the Ministry of Health. Corona plague, in an interview with CNN.

For, this first verified Florona case has made headlines not only in the country but also in the world.

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Corona Department at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva (Photo: Reuters)

Both the flu and the corona are viruses that damage the respiratory system and cause symptoms that some overlap: cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, headache and fatigue.

Both also spread and infect in a similar way: through droplet fragments emitted into the air and carried in it when a sick person speaks, breathes or coughs.

Infection with both viruses at the same time can be a "catastrophe for the immune system," says Dr. Adrian Burroughs, a family physician and lecturer at the University of Central Florida, who already in September estimated that there would be cases of combined flu and Covid-19 infection in the winter. Mortality rates from both viruses.

Fear: Hospital overload

Currently, there are not enough data on hospitalizations of patients in Florona to determine whether combined infection with the two viruses does indeed increase hospitalization rates compared to the risk of hospitalization due to illness in only one of them.

However, it is estimated that there is a reasonable chance that it will indeed affect the chance of a serious illness and the need to be hospitalized.

Governments around the world and here in Israel are already very concerned about overloading hospitals and healthcare systems following the current wave of morbidity of the Omicron variant which is expected to break infection records everywhere.

The fact that the omicron arrived at the problematic timing of the winter months when there is already a load on the system following flu hospitalizations does not bode well.

The most important thing is to protect vulnerable populations.

Man vaccinated against influenza in Clalit's vaccination complex (Photo: Reuven Castro)

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"During the winter people stay indoors more and it increases the risk of being infected with upper respiratory viruses in advance. When you add to that the fact that the flu and corona strains currently circulating in the population are highly contagious, it can certainly lead to a strain on the health system," Davidovich said.

"We are now on the verge of winter and heading towards full and busy internal wards - prevention is the best way. Last year we were lucky not to suffer so much from combined cases of flu and corona," Davidovich said, stressing that the most important thing is to protect people.

He called on more people to get vaccinated as well as take any other measure to reduce infection, especially to protect vulnerable populations like the elderly, immunocompromised and patients with chronic diseases.

The same protective measures that are recommended to reduce the risk of infection in Corona will also work in protection against the flu: vaccination, mask on the mouth and nose in enclosed spaces and in gatherings and strict hygiene and hand washing / disinfection.

And of course, the recommendation is to avoid crowded and closed places and unnecessary gatherings at a time when morbidity in both influenza and corona is on a steep rise.

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