A study reveals that, if infected with both influenza and Covid at the same time, you may be protected from the latter.
Tests demonstrated that influenza can inhibit the pandemic-causing SARS-CoV-2 by preventing it from targeting the lungs.
However, infection with SARS-CoV-2 did not appear to protect against influenza.
There is no evidence that Covid would be less severe if a person had the flu just days prior.
Despite this, they assert that coinfection, or flurona as it has been dubbed, “does not pose a threat to humanity.”
Hamsters inoculated with both viruses simultaneously were not more likely to experience a negative consequence.
The study from New York University comes amid fears of a double whammy of Covid and influenza this winter.
Australia is experiencing its worst flu pandemic in years, prompting concerns that the northern hemisphere will experience the same fate.
As a result of the limits implemented to combat Covid, the nation has minimal protection against influenza.
In the meantime, SARS-CoV-2 will continue to spread, potentially wreaking havoc on NHS wards by increasing staff absenteeism and admissions.
Earlier in the pandemic, public health officials cautioned that those who contracted fluoroquinolone would be in “grave danger.
According to government data, co-infection increased the probability of death.
However, experts eventually advised that the fears were exaggerated.
The author of the New York University study, Professor Benjamin tenOever, emphasized the need for additional research on coinfections.
His team’s experiments on hamsters infected with both viruses indicated that harboring both concurrently did not result in inferior outcomes, regardless of the order of infection.
The same assays revealed that hamsters previously infected with influenza had lower SARS-CoV-2 levels than the other groups.
In addition, this inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 replication was discovered to persist for one week after the rodent’s body had fought influenza.
Professor tenOever stated, “These observations imply the presence of components intrinsic to or generated by (influenza A virus) that may inhibit the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2.”
‘However, it is unknown if this effect contributes to illness severity.
These findings indicate that co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus does not pose a hazard to humanity.
The article published in the Journal of Virology examined only one strain of influenza.
In the lungs, both influenza and SARS-CoV-2 reproduce.
At the end of June, it was projected that more than 2.7 million people in the United Kingdom were infected with the Covid virus or one in every 24 people.
NHS trusts have issued a warning that staff absences are on the rise due to high levels of transmission in the community, as well as increased admission pressure.
Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, admitted Wednesday that Britain could revert to its ‘protect the NHS’ Covid policy if the recent increase in cases and hospital admissions hinders the health service’s ability to treat other ailments.
According to him, the outrageous free lateral flow testing scheme and required face masks could make a reappearance.
As of July 4 – the most recent date for which data is available – there were 1,911 Covid admissions in England, and based on current trends, this number is expected to increase.
If average daily admissions surpass 2,100, it will be the largest number since January 2021, when the second wave peaked at more than 4,000.
However, just one-third of patients are primarily afflicted with Covid, suggesting that increased admissions are indicative of high infection frequencies rather than severe illness.
The majority (64%) are referred to as ‘incidental’ instances or people who went to the hospital for another reason yet tested positive.
