What is flurona? Should one be worried about it?

 Flurona is the name given to the illness when a person gets infected with flu and Covid-19 either simultaneously or back to back one after another. Many such cases have been reported worldwide including in children. It is likely to rise considering that seasonal flu season is ongoing and omicron variant of coronavirus is also spreading like wild fire in the world. It is not new and had been reported even in early 2020. 

Why are people panicky about flurona 2022?

Though doctors are aware that simultaneous flu and corona cases were diagnosed even in the early months of 2020 when corona pandemic started, people were not fully aware of it until now. At that time, they were more concerned about the new disease of corona infection that had swept the world from Wuhan, China. And now as people are eagerly waiting for travel curbs to come down, the reports of such co-infections with flu and corona are raising concerns in their minds. 

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Additionally, last year due to lockdown, people did not mingle much with each other. Hence flu was less. And hence the entity of flurona was less. But now some easing of restrictions means flu is doing a comeback. And along with the rising cases of omicron corona. Hence increasing cases of flurona are bound to be seen. 

Is flurona a cause of worry?

Flurona means two infections and hence one's immune system would be overburdened. David Edwards, an aerosol scientist and bioengineering professor at Harvard University states:

"The probability of both of those things happening at the same time is sort of like the probability of getting robbed by two people on the same day. It happens, but it’s not like people should think, ‘Oh, there’s gonna be this flurona that’s going to overtake omicron.’ That’s not going to happen.”

But yes, if the two infections occur at same time, chances of a grave illness and mortality are high. University of Wisconsin researchers had done a meta-analysis of their cases in May 2021 and found that 19% of their patients of covid did have another infection too (bacterial, viral, or fungal). 24% of those with covid had another infection after covid. In both cases, prognosis was poor. Hence if covid is found, do test for other infection so that treatment could commence early to improve outcome. 

Israel is the first country to report flurona in December 2021 in a pregnant unvaccinated woman. She had mild symptoms and survived the double attack. USA, Spain, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and three states of Brazil have also reported flurona cases.