Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
First flurona (COVID-19 co-infection with the flu) cases have been reported. Although flurona has not been a concern yet due to the few flu cases last year we might have more cases in the upcoming year. What can we expect when SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza virus meet?
🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: bit.ly/2SRMqhC
📸 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek
🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
"Flurona" is a layman term (and not a medical term) which describes the COVID-19 coinfection with the flu. In 2020, a man in New York was admitted to the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19 and the flu. A couple of weeks ago a pregnant woman in Israel was also diagnosed with "flurona". Both patients exhibited "normal" COVID-19 / flu symptoms. Since flurona has been so rare so far we do not know if we can expect any special symptoms.
What we do know, however, is how other bacteria and viruses work with Sars-CoV-2 (see references for the studies). While one meta-study claims that as many as 19% of COVID-19 patients have co-infections another study suggests that correct number is 7%. It is estimated that over 40% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU have superinfections which increase the risk of dying. COVID-19 co-infections can lead to additional tissue damages or super-infections which might explain the higher mortality rate. Some COVID-19 co-infections, however, do not lead to more severe symptoms. Concerning flurona, a recent study in mice has observed more lung damages if there is an SARS-CoV-2 influenza co-infection.
Since some people were concerned - there is no need to worry that COVID-19 co-infections with unrelated viruses lead to "new" viruses. The reason for this is that viruses can be very different from each other, do not infect the same cells and have stored their genetic information differently among other reasons. The importance of flurona (or other COVID-19 co-infections) is that they might help to treat COVID-19 patients in the ICU accordingly.
0:00-0:33 Intro
0:33-2:18 What is Flurona?
2:18-5:07 How COVID-19 Co-Infections Impact Us
5:07-7:35 Can SARS-CoV-2 merge with other Viruses?
7:35-9:30 Conclusion & Announcement
References:
nature.com/articles/s41422-021-00473-1
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251170
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7213959
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7836762
www-sciencedirect-com.emedien.ub.uni-muenchen.de/science/article/pii/S0163445320303236?dgcid=rss_sd_all
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251170
The experiment was conducted with data from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and processed with blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi and Benchling.
Images:
Videos were derived from pixabay.com or pexels.com. Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier. You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
Influenza Virus by BruceBlaus, CC BY-SA 4.0
HSV-1 by Thomas Splettstoesse, CC BY-SA 4.0
Granulation tissue by Calicut Medical College, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kiss lips by Tania Saiz,
Music:
Title: Art of Silence by Uniq soundcloud.com/uniqofficial
Title: Punch Deck by promoted by BreakingCopyright: bit.ly/bkc-ethereal2 (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Black heat by Ross Budgen (CC BY 4.0)
Title: Filaments by Scott Buckley d (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Rudolph by Lukrembro soundcloud.com/lukrembo
Light Sting by Kevin MacLeod (CC By 4.0)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Title: Buddha by Kontekst
Genre and Mood: Hip Hop & Rap + Bright
Artist: incompetech.com
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (LifeLabLearner) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
First flurona (COVID-19 co-infection with the flu) cases have been reported. Although flurona has not been a concern yet due to the few flu cases last year we might have more cases in the upcoming year. What can we expect when SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza virus meet?
🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: bit.ly/2SRMqhC
📸 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek
🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
"Flurona" is a layman term (and not a medical term) which describes the COVID-19 coinfection with the flu. In 2020, a man in New York was admitted to the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19 and the flu. A couple of weeks ago a pregnant woman in Israel was also diagnosed with "flurona". Both patients exhibited "normal" COVID-19 / flu symptoms. Since flurona has been so rare so far we do not know if we can expect any special symptoms.
What we do know, however, is how other bacteria and viruses work with Sars-CoV-2 (see references for the studies). While one meta-study claims that as many as 19% of COVID-19 patients have co-infections another study suggests that correct number is 7%. It is estimated that over 40% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU have superinfections which increase the risk of dying. COVID-19 co-infections can lead to additional tissue damages or super-infections which might explain the higher mortality rate. Some COVID-19 co-infections, however, do not lead to more severe symptoms. Concerning flurona, a recent study in mice has observed more lung damages if there is an SARS-CoV-2 influenza co-infection.
Since some people were concerned - there is no need to worry that COVID-19 co-infections with unrelated viruses lead to "new" viruses. The reason for this is that viruses can be very different from each other, do not infect the same cells and have stored their genetic information differently among other reasons. The importance of flurona (or other COVID-19 co-infections) is that they might help to treat COVID-19 patients in the ICU accordingly.
0:00-0:33 Intro
0:33-2:18 What is Flurona?
2:18-5:07 How COVID-19 Co-Infections Impact Us
5:07-7:35 Can SARS-CoV-2 merge with other Viruses?
7:35-9:30 Conclusion & Announcement
References:
nature.com/articles/s41422-021-00473-1
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251170
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7213959
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7836762
www-sciencedirect-com.emedien.ub.uni-muenchen.de/science/article/pii/S0163445320303236?dgcid=rss_sd_all
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251170
The experiment was conducted with data from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and processed with blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi and Benchling.
Images:
Videos were derived from pixabay.com or pexels.com. Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier. You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
Influenza Virus by BruceBlaus, CC BY-SA 4.0
HSV-1 by Thomas Splettstoesse, CC BY-SA 4.0
Granulation tissue by Calicut Medical College, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kiss lips by Tania Saiz,
Music:
Title: Art of Silence by Uniq soundcloud.com/uniqofficial
Title: Punch Deck by promoted by BreakingCopyright: bit.ly/bkc-ethereal2 (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Black heat by Ross Budgen (CC BY 4.0)
Title: Filaments by Scott Buckley d (CC BY 3.0)
Title: Rudolph by Lukrembro soundcloud.com/lukrembo
Light Sting by Kevin MacLeod (CC By 4.0)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Title: Buddha by Kontekst
Genre and Mood: Hip Hop & Rap + Bright
Artist: incompetech.com
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (LifeLabLearner) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
