During this period, doctors at the Institute of Infectious Diseases “Matej Balsh” in the capital encountered cases of double infection of patients, both with the flu virus and with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, says doctor Adrian Marinescu, explaining the symptoms of those who have flu and COVID at the same time. According to him, there may be complications, and the evolution of the disease must be monitored in the hospital.

According to the medical director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases “Matei Balsh”, it is expected that in the near future “without an explosion” there will be several such cases of flu and COVID at the same time – “fluron”.

How to find out if we have fluron

• “As the name suggests, flurona means flu and rona means we have two viruses at the same time, flu, flu, rona, from corona. I had a few cases, but very few.
• During the pandemic, we talked about fluron, it is true that there were extremely rare cases, because the circulation of influenza viruses was very limited, and not only in Romania.
• The difference now is that we have a lot of cases of influenza, being on the brink of an epidemic. At the same time, we also have SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it is expected that in the near future, without an explosion, we will have more such cases,” doctor Adrian Marinescu told News.ro.

In the case of Fluron, the symptoms are “much louder” because it is a combination of flu and COVID symptoms.

How do we know if we have fluron?

• “In general, we are talking about a fairly clear symptomatology, like in the flu, which is accentuated, namely, a sudden change in the general condition, with pain of high intensity, pain in the muscles, joints, headache, the feeling that I have We all know that if we come down with the flu, we can also have digestive symptoms, just as we do with viral infections.
• Much more important is the fact that the evolution can be unpredictable, or better said, the risk of complications increases when I have both, especially in people who we call vulnerable, those of a certain age, over 65, 70, especially if they also have chronic diseases, people who are overweight, and also, increased attention should be paid to young children under 5 years who are at risk of complications,” explained Dr. Marinescu.

The doctor recommends checking with quick tests that are available in pharmacies. If a double infection is confirmed, specialized monitoring and subsequent treatment in a hospital is necessary, he says. Treatment is given for both existing infections, with two antiviral drugs – one for flu, one for COVID – and other treatments such as corticosteroids.

• “I would still say that we have to see the whole side of the glass. This is not the end of the country, it does not yet prove anything either for influenza viruses or for SARS-CoV-2 that we have increased virulence, I mean them separately. Secondly, we are talking about a short period, the world must understand that we are talking about several weeks of maximum intensity.
• It is very likely that from the end of January we will reach a downward trend in the incidence of influenza. And then everything is clearly regulated, although we will probably also have cases in March, but they will be rare,” added Dr. Adrian Marinescu.

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