Flurona Is Not a New COVID-19 Variant

Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be misleading.

The posts describing “Flurona” as a COVID-19 variant are inaccurate. The “Flurona” case is related to two separate viruses that use different receptors and mechanisms.

Many experts have confirmed to AFP and Reuters that “Flurona” is a co-infection of influenza and COVID-19 at the same time.

The term “Flurona” was first used in an article about the influenza vaccination rate on the official website of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians, published on Dec. 16, 2020.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 and influenza are caused by different viruses, and they are also different in the way they are treated.

Photo description: COVID-19 and Flu are caused by different viruses.

The World Health Organization has also mentioned that the vaccines developed against COVID-19 do not protect against influenza, and similarly, the flu vaccine does not protect against COVID-19.

Photo description: The diseases are treated using different vaccines.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that people can be infected with both flu and COVID-19 at the same time and have symptoms of both of them.

Many experts have confirmed that this is not the first reported case of co-infection of influenza and COVID-19. A group of researchers has published a study about four patients with co-infection diagnosed simultaneously in 2020.

Photo description: It is not the first time to report flu and COVID-19 co-infection cases.  

Israel has detected its first case co-infection with both seasonal flu and COVID-19 at the same time in an unvaccinated pregnant woman. Some news reports have mentioned the incident as the first case of “Flurona,” but others suggested the first case of co-infection was already reported in early 2020.