Double infection
Flurona: Woman in Israel infected with corona and flu at the same time
A young woman with a mask in Jerusalem. Israel is currently not only battling the coronavirus, but is also in the middle of a wave of flu.
© Nir Alon / Picture Alliance
In Israel, a pregnant woman contracted the flu and the coronavirus at the same time. It is the first documented case of such a double infection in the country. Authorities fear that many more will follow.
Unvaccinated, pregnant and doubly infected. The first case of a double infection with a flu virus and the coronavirus was recently detected in Israel – the infection is now also known as Flurona. The term is a Wolpertinger linguistic, which, like the double infection, is composed of two components, the English word for flu and corona.
It has long been known that a simultaneous infection with flu and coronaviruses is possible. At the beginning of the pandemic, in February 2020, “The Atlantic” reported on such a case in New York. At that time, a man’s bad cough turned out to be a combined infection. The wife and both children were also affected. Other cases were also discovered during studies in hospitals in the United States and China that same year. However, little is known about the effects of such an infection.
Little known about Flurona double infection
The double infection of the pregnant woman is now the first documented case of Flurona in Israel. As reported by “The Times of Israel” (TToI), the woman was treated at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva with mild symptoms, but has since been released. “Both are viral diseases that cause breathing difficulties by attacking the upper airways,” said Arnon Vizhnitser, head of the hospital’s gynecological department, of TToI. In the case of the woman, it was a relatively mild course of the disease.
The Ministry of Health now wants to check whether there is a risk of serious illnesses due to a double infection, because they are sure that the woman’s illness is not an isolated case. It is likely that many other people were affected by Flurona, but this was not diagnosed, reports the news site “Ynet”
After the flu season almost canceled in the course of the corona containment measures last year, the country is currently experiencing a rapid increase in cases. We are talking about around 2000 people who had to be treated in the hospital. It is feared that the simultaneous occurrence of a flu and corona wave could lead to an overload in the hospitals.
Source: Times of Israel, The Atlantic, JAMA