Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
When Flu And Covid Collide: Doctors Worry About Potential For 'Twindemic'
The Washington Post: What Is Flurona? Coronavirus And Influenza Co-Infections Reported Amid Omicron
New year, new coronavirus term?Many people around the world kicked off 2022 by searching for more information about “flurona,” after Israel reported that two young pregnant women had tested positive for both the coronavirus and the flu. Doctors have long been concerned about the potential impact of a “twindemic” — with influenza cases rising as covid-19 cases threaten to overwhelm hospitals — and called on people to get flu shots and coronavirus vaccinations. (Hassan, 1/5)
ABC News: What To Know About 'Flurona'
In the midst of a new pandemic surge, another seemingly new ailment is now grabbing headlines: flurona. Despite the catchy name, "flurona" is not new. It is a term coined to describe what happens when a person tests positive for the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. (Salzman, 1/6)
Verywell Health: 'Flurona' Is Not New: COVID And Flu Co-Infection Explained
Flurona is neither a medical term nor a description of a new coronavirus variant. While the term is new, cases of simultaneous COVID-19 and flu infections are not. One of the first instances of COVID-19 in the United States, reported in early 2020, was a double infection case, according to The Atlantic. (Bugos, 1/5)
ABC13 Houston: Flurona? Houston Teen Details Personal Experience Dealing With Flu And COVID At Same Time
Alec Zierlein is your typical 17-year-old high school student, except he didn't have much fun during his Christmas holiday. Zierlein, one of his brothers, and his dad, sports radio host Lance Zierlein, began feeling sick a few days before Christmas. "I ended up getting tested the day before Christmas for strep throat, flu and COVID," said Zierlein. "I didn't think I had any of the three. It felt like a mild cold." (Shay, 1/4) It turns out, the teen had both the flu and COVID-19, a diagnosis that's been dubbed as "flurona."
Houston Chronicle: Why Two Houston Doctors Don't Like The COVID Term 'Flurona,’ And What Really Worries Them
Co-infections with the coronavirus and other viruses have been happening since the start of the pandemic, said Dr. Flor Munoz, an infectious disease specialist at Texas Children's Hospital and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine. Last summer, a wave of children suffering from both COVID and respiratory syncytial virus swept through pediatric hospitals in Houston. An unusually light flu season in 2020 meant many people lacked recent exposure to the influenza virus. Scientists were also left guessing about which strains to focus on for this year's flu vaccines, Dr. Wesley Long, Houston Methodist’s medical director of diagnostic microbiology, told the Chronicle in September. (Zong, 1/5)
"Flurona" is already spreading —
Orange County Register: ‘Flurona’ Co-Infection Of Flu, COVID-19 Surfaces In LA, Orange Counties
It promises a special kind of hell — the misery of both flu and COVID-19 crashing down at exactly the same time.“Flurona,” as it has been dubbed, was detected in a teenage boy who tested positive for both flu and COVID-19 at a privately operated site near the Getty Center in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. The boy had recently returned from Cabo San Lucas, but had only mild symptoms. (1/5)
CBS Miami: ‘Flurona’: Florida Hospitals Seeing Kids Testing Positive For Both COVID & Flu
Florida hospitals are seeing kids coming in and testing positive for both the flu and COVID-19. It’s being called “flurona” and it’s concerning doctors. “There is now both very high influenza activity and very high COVID activity, there is the option that someone will be infected with both,” Nadav Davidovitch, director of the School of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, told CNN on Tuesday. Davidovitch added, “I don’t think this is going to be a common situation, but that’s something to consider.” (1/5)
Waaytv.Com: 'Flurona' Already Reported In North Alabama
Flu cases and coronavirus cases have both steadily increased over the past month. According to Huntsville Hospital, they have already treated patients who have been infected with both viruses. "The ones who get these combined infections have multiple risk factors, and they get exposed to a certain point where they can get both these viruses," explained Dr. Ali Hassoun, infectious disease specialist at Huntsville Hospital. He said, since the beginning of the pandemic, fewer than 3% of Huntsville Hospital patients have had both viruses. (Zedeck, 1/5)
