Israel confirms first case of ‘florona’, combined infection of Covid-19 and flu

Israel has reportedly recorded the first case of Florona, which is believed to be a double infection of Covid-19 and influenza.

According to reports, the first case of this was recorded this week in a pregnant woman who was admitted to the Rabin Medical Centre to give birth. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the young woman was not vaccinated.

The news of Florona comes at a time when the world is battling a new surge of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic driven by the new variant Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa in November 2021. The fast-transmissible variant has already spread to most of the countries and has overtaken the previous variant Delta in the US and UK.

Florona, however, is not a new variant, to dispel misgivings, as it is believed to be the occurrence of flu and corona at the same time. Israeli doctors said Florona is being studied as Isreal has seen a surge in influenza cases in the last few weeks.

Dr Nahla Abdel Wahab, a doctor at Cairo University Hospital, told Israeli media that Florona may indicate a major breakdown of the immunity system as two viruses are entering the human body at the same time.

Israel has already begun administering fourth vaccine shots against Covid-19 on Friday to individuals with a compromised immune system.

Experts have also flagged Delmicron, a combination of Delta and Omicron variants, which might have caused the surge in the US and Europe. Delmicron, too, is not a new variant but the attack of Delta and Omicron strains together. Commenting on Delmicron, Moderna’s chief medical officer Dr Paul Burton has said it was possible that both the strains can swap genes and trigger a more dangerous variant. “There’s certainly data, there have been some papers published again from South Africa earlier from the pandemic when people - and certainly immunocompromised people - can harbour both viruses,” Burton was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

--Agencies