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Updated January 7th, 2022 at 06:44 IST

COVID-19: US confirms first cases of 'Flurona' in children from Texas and California

“This is the first one that we’re aware of,” chief operating officer of 911 COVID Testing Farzam from the Southern California told the reporters.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
COVID-19
IMAGE: AP/Pixabay | Image:self
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The United States has confirmed its first cases of 'flurona', the co-infection of the flu and the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, California, and in Texas. The patients are children who tested positive for both influenza and COVID. The LA county teenager had recently returned from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The child from Texas was diagnosed with the flurona this week on Monday. A test confirmed the case at the Texas Children's Hospital. A sample was found nearly four days ago at a testing site near the Getty Center in Brentwood, LA that confirmed the case in southern California, informed Steve Farzam, chief operating officer of 911 COVID Testing. These are the first-ever flurona cases detected in the US.

Both diseases caused by different viruses

While both flu and COVID-19 are contagious respiratory illnesses, they are caused by different viruses. But in patients that contract both at the same time, symptoms are similar, and separate tests are needed to confirm a diagnosis, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] says on the website. As per the World Health Organization, an individual can be infected with both diseases at the same time. Texas Children's hospital was the first to report the case of flurona. "This is one confirmed case and, of course, we'll be working with our colleagues across the country to see if there are more cases and whether we will see a distinct pattern in these cases," Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief and COVID command center co-leader at the hospital, told American reporters. 

“This is the first one that we’re aware of,” chief operating officer of 911 COVID Testing Farzam told LA Times. “In and of itself, it’s not overly concerning; however, it is concerning and can be problematic for someone who has preexisting medical conditions, anyone who is immunocompromised.”

The Texas child was not hospitalised and is said to be recovering at home, USA Today reported. No other details about the symptoms were immediately available. The LA case was in 'fairly good condition' but has some symptoms. It remains unclear if the two children had received their COVID or flu shots. The cases in the US are detected just days after Israel confirmed its first case of an individual infected with both the seasonal flu and COVID-19. The two infections were found in an unvaccinated pregnant woman who reported fairly mild symptoms, Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva told The Times of Israel. In recent weeks, Israel had voiced fears of “twindemic” of the two diseases.  

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Published January 7th, 2022 at 06:44 IST

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