A leading Australian doctor is urging us to be on the lookout for so-called “flurona” infections, reminding us of some widespread misconceptions.
A Victorian woman died this month after being diagnosed with both COVID and the flu, becoming the first fatality linked to an outbreak of these viruses.
According to experts, there’s a higher chance that people will be infected at the same time as we enter the winter months.
Dr Nirvana Luckraj, the Chief Medical Officer of Healthdirect, told 7NEWS.com.au that flurona is often mistaken for a new virus.
“With COVID continuing to circulate in the community and cases still high in some states, combined with the predicted flu season we are expecting now that restrictions have eased, it’s quite possible that a person could have flu and COVID at the same time,” she said.
“It’s something we want to prevent as these are both potentially severe illnesses and combined would be particularly serious.”
She went on to say that the most important thing is to get vaccinated.
Expect no benefit from your COVID jabs in terms of fighting the flu.
“The flu vaccine is specifically designed for flu virus and COVID vaccines for COVID – they don’t protect against each other so it’s important to get both vaccines for best prevention this winter.
“Vaccines are one of the most important and simple measures we can take to keep ourselves, our families and communities healthy.”
Catching the flu and COVID-19 at the same time doubles your risk of dying, a recent study found.