The first person to contract the 'double bomb' of flu and Covid-19 at the same time
The first case of the potentially dangerous “double bomb” of Covid-19 and flu was a young pregnant woman who had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Israel.
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| Illustration: Getty Images |
RT TV channel reported that Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel announced this double infection case earlier this week.
“She was diagnosed with influenza and SARS-CoV-2 as soon as she was admitted to the hospital. Both tests came back positive, even when we retested her,” Professor Arnon Vizhnitser, Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the center, said.
The patient had mild symptoms of the disease, and there was no difference as both influenza and Covid-19 attack the upper respiratory tract, Mr. Vizhnitser said. The woman was discharged from the hospital on December 30.
The Israeli Health Ministry is evaluating this particular case to find out whether the combination of the two viruses could cause more severe illness.
Meanwhile, the Israel Center for Disease Control has just reported a sharp increase in influenza virus infections in the country, warning that the influenza virus can cause severe symptoms such as pneumonia, respiratory infections, myocarditis and even death.
The agency is urging everyone 6 months and older to get vaccinated against seasonal flu. The flu vaccine can be given at the same time as the Covid-19 vaccine.
Scientists around the world are urgently assessing the potential risks from the combination of multiple viruses and variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moderna's Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton has warned that the combination of the Delta and Omicron variants could create a new, more dangerous strain of the virus.
