First ‘flurona’ case found in LA after child contracts Covid, flu infection

The United States is on high alert after the first cases of “flurona” – simultaneous flu and Covid-19 infections – were confirmed by officials.

A case of “flurona” – the rare simultaneous infection of Covid-19 and the seasonal flu – has been detected in a child in California, a testing site revealed on Wednesday.

The case was detected at the 911 Covid testing site set up at the Getty Centre in Los Angeles, NBC4 reported.

The New York Post reports the infected child had just returned from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to the testing company.

They were experiencing “very mild symptoms” that could have easily been confused with sinusitis, CEO Steve Farzam said.

The child didn’t require hospitalisation and went home with their parents after being tested, Mr Farzam added.

Los Angeles County health officials have not yet commented on the flurona case.

It comes after another flurona case was detected in a child in Texas on Monday.

The first cases of flurona in US have the nation on edge. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

Officials at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston said the patient wasn’t hospitalised after being infected with both influenza A and Covid-19 – and was recovering at home.

No further details about the child’s symptoms were released by the hospital.

“This is one confirmed case and, of course, we’ll be working with our colleagues across the country to see if there are more cases and whether we will see a distinct pattern in these cases,” said Dr Jim Versalovic, the hospital’s pathologist-in-chief.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there have been other confirmed cases in the US.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t immediately respond to the Post’srequest for comment.

Israel announced this week it had detected its first flurona case in an unvaccinated pregnant woman.

Flurona is allegedly more common in kids, pregnant women and the unvaccinated. Picture: Daniel Munoz/AFP

Flurona is allegedly more common in pregnant women, children and unvaccinated people.

The unidentified woman experienced only mild symptoms of each after she arrived at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, the Times of Israel said.

She was discharged from the hospital last Thursday and was said to be in a good condition.

The Israeli Health Ministry is studying her case to see whether a combination of the two bugs could cause more severe illness.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission