Infectious disease news is getting off to a robust start in 2022, as Israel reports its first combination case of influenza and the coronavirus-caused COVID.
The double infection—dubbed the “flurona”—was found in a new mother at Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva, Hamodia reported. Professor Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the hospital’s gynecology department, told the Jerusalem news outlet that the woman tested positive for both viruses as soon as she came to the medical center and that they double-checked to confirm.
Vizhnitser added that the woman had not been vaccinated against either virus, but she did not have any especially strong symptoms. She had been feeling well and was expected to be discharged on Thursday.
The woman has presented with relatively mild symptoms of the disease.
Though this was the first documented case of someone infected with both viruses simultaneously, health experts believe there are others who have not been diagnosed. The Israeli Health Ministry is studying the case to see whether it could cause more serious illness, according to Hamodia.
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