Flurona Is Here: What The Heck Is The Flu-Coronavirus Combo? Should You Be Worried?

ACROSS AMERICA — As the omicron coronavirus variant pushes daily COVID-19 cases in the United States to unprecedented highs, here’s yet another word you might find yourself worrying about soon: flurona.

Over the past several weeks, Americans have watched with trepidation as hospitals reached capacity amid staffing shortages, schools closed yet again, and the United States recorded a global record of 1 million COVID-19 cases reported in a single day.

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Now, there’s “flurona.”

What the heck is flurona? No, it’s not another strain of the coronavirus. The term might embody something public health officials started sounding the alarm about last winter. Think of it as a math problem:

Flu + coronavirus = flurona.

While it's unclear why the "flurona" moniker won out over "fluvid," "coronaflu" or "covidenza" to describe the ailment, here's one thing we do know for sure: Flurona is in the United States. Is it more dangerous than influenza or COVID-19? Are there ways to prevent it? Here are five questions answered:

What exactly is “flurona?”

First, “flurona” is not a distinct disease or virus — it’s a portmanteau used to describe a person infected with both influenza and the coronavirus.

While the word “flurona” is new, cases of it are not, according to a report by The Atlantic.

In February 2020, before the coronavirus was even declared a global pandemic, a man was admitted to a New York City hospital with a severe cough and fever. He later tested positive for influenza and the coronavirus. Weeks later, test results confirmed that he and three family members had contracted both viruses.

Flurona could become a familiar word this winter. Strict lockdown and coronavirus mitigation measures staved off many flu cases in the United States last year. Still, now that many of those measures are lifted, this winter could tell a very different story.

“It’s interesting that after you have a year with a very, very low or not at all influenza activity, the next year — because people were less exposed — it makes them more vulnerable,” Nadav Davidovitch, director of the School of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, told CNN on Tuesday.

Where in the world is flurona now?

The word “flurona” surfaced in recent global media reports after two young pregnant women in Israel tested positive for both influenza and the coronavirus, according to a Washington Post report.

On Wednesday, a case of flurona was detected at a COVID-19 testing site in Los Angeles County, California. The only other recently known case of flurona in the United States was found in a Houston teenager who spent Christmas Day isolated in his bedroom after contracting the coronavirus and the flu. The teen was vaccinated against the coronavirus but not the flu, The Post reported.

Before the term was coined, cases were reported in Israel, Brazil, the Philippines and Hungary, the Post reported.

Could the prevalence of both viruses increase the likelihood of double infection this winter? Possibly, but it’s too early to tell, Davidovitch told CNN.

“I don’t think this is going to be a common situation, but that’s something to consider,” he said.

What are the symptoms of flurona?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu and the coronavirus have similar symptoms, including fever, cough, fatigue, runny nose, sore throat, and muscle and body aches.

The viruses are also transmitted in similar ways, mainly through droplets and aerosols passed on by coughing, sneezing, speaking, singing or breathing, the World Health Organization notes.

Both infections can be fatal, though the severity depends mainly on an individual’s immune system. Health workers, older persons and those with underlying health conditions are more at risk for each virus.

How dangerous is it?

Dr. Frank Esper, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, told USA Today that while he expects to see plenty of flurona infections, he hasn’t seen anything that suggests a double infection makes COVID-19 infections worse.

“Those are two viral pathogens that we actually have medicines for,” Esper told USA Today.

It could, however, become a more significant threat to higher-risk groups.

Being infected with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time could be “catastrophic to your immune system,” Dr. Adrian Burrowes, a physician and assistant professor at the University of Central Florida, told CNN in September.

“I do believe you’re going to see co-infection with flu and coronavirus. And I do believe you’re going to see a higher rate of mortality as a result of that,” Burrowes said at the time.

How can I protect myself against flurona?

The answer is simple — the same way you protect yourself against the flu and the coronavirus.

Here are a few ways, according to the CDC:

• Wear a mask to protect yourself and others.
• Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. The more people you are in contact with, the more likely you are to be exposed to both influenza and COVID-19.
• Get a vaccine when it’s available to you.
• Clean your hands often, either with soap and water for 20 seconds or a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces daily.

As more reports surface about co-infections, health experts and doctors stress that coronavirus and flu vaccines are best to protect against severe infections.

The flu vaccine is available to adults and children over 6 months; the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is open to adults and children 5 and older. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is available to adults 18 and older.

Find a vaccine near you.