Q&A: The things you need to know about Flurona

Australia’s top medico has warned that it won’t just be Covid-19 threatening us this winter. Here’s the lowdown on flurona.

Australia’s top medico Professor Paul Kelly has warned that it won’t just be Covid-19 threatening us this winter.

He predicts a nasty flu season – and something more scary may be waiting in the wings.

Here’s what you need to know about flurona.

WHAT IS FLURONA?

It is copping a dose of the flu, and Covid-19 at the same time. And having two respiratory infections at once is a frightening possibility for many of us.

IS IT COMMON?

Thankfully not at this stage. Mayo Clinic doctor Stephen McMullan says the condition is “rare”. He says coinfections are not common because other viruses may get as far as the upper respiratory areas before “Covid-19 tends to take over”. An Iranian review estimated that 1.2 per cent of Covid-19 patients might also have flu.

HAS IT BEEN AROUND FOR LONG, AND WHERE?

Reports from the US suggest coinfections were being recorded as early as early 2020. Israel helped bring flurona to the world’s attention in December 2021, when it revealed that an unvaccinated pregnant woman infected with both viruses had been release from hospital. Doctors said her symptoms had been mild. In early January, the Washington Post reported

that flurona had been detected in several countries outside the US and Israel – including Brazil, the Philippines and Hungary. There have also been reports from Spain, Iran and China.

HOW DO YOU GET IT?

Bad luck, basically. Really, really bad luck. You come into contact with sources of both infections and they both get a foothold in your body. Given you should isolate as soon as you’re feeling sick, it shouldn’t happen. Both are spread by droplets and aerosols when an infected person breathes, speaks, coughs or sneezes. And, of course, infected tend to do all those things.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

The diseases have similar symptoms – which may include a runny nose, sore throat, fever, headache and fatigue – so it’s difficult to tell if you have one or both.

IS IT MORE DANGEROUS FLU AND/OR COVID-19?

Well, both the flu and Covid can, and have, kill people. Because flurona is relatively rare, there is little information about how it compares with its constituent viruses. Probably the biggest worry is that a patient may be more susceptible to one or the other of the two, making serious illness more probable to some extent. But the jury is out on that one too. David Edwards, from Harvard University, said the main problem would be how taxing the combination would be on your immune system, like fighting two opponents at the same time. Researchers from Wuhan University in China infected mice with flu and Covid and found doing so boosted viral entry into cells and elevated the viral load, resulting in more severe lung damage. But for those vaccinated against both diseases and without underlying health conditions, the viruses are unlikely to have a major effect, Israeli experts say.

SHOULD AUSSIES BE CONCERNED AND WHEN IS IT COMING HERE?

Concerned, maybe. Very concerned, probably not. Professor Kelly suggested on Tuesday that in winter could bring cases. “I think winter, we will see more Covid – that’s been the case in every winter so far in all parts of the world,” he said. “What I do know, though, is that we’re almost certainly going to have a flu season this year, as well as in winter. And flu and coronavirus together, as has been seen in several countries in the northern hemisphere right now, is a challenge. So that’s a challenge we’re up to and up for in the coming months.”

HOW CAN I PROTECT MYSELF?

Now here is the good news. All the things you do to help prevent Covid-19, also help prevent the flu – hence the fact that since most of us have become Covid-safe, flu cases have fallen. You know the drill – good hygiene (and washing especially), mask-wearing, isolation of infected people, social distancing, good ventilation, covering the nose or mouth with a bent elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing. And the biggie – block your ears now anti-vaxxers, so you can maintain your blissful, if dangerous, ignorance – vaccination! Get vaccinated against both. You are unlikely to get both at one time, but it makes sense to be protected either way. And if you are vaccinated – surprise, surprise – you are much, much less likely to end up in hospital, ICU, or the morgue.