COVID-19: Brazil investigates new suspected cases of flurone after confirming six

The health authorities of the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Rio de Janeiro reported that they are investigating new suspected cases of flurone, a name given to the simultaneous infection of flu and COVID-19, after the confirmation of the first six cases in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro’s municipal secretary of Health, Daniel Soranz, confirmed that there are 17 suspected cases under investigation in this Brazilian city, but that so far none of the patients have a serious situation.

The Secretary of Health of Santa Catarina reported that it is waiting for laboratory results to confirm whether ten patients contracted the two viruses simultaneously in that region of southern Brazil, while that of Minas Gerais admitted that it is investigating a case registered in the city of Juiz de Fora. .

So far, six cases of simultaneous infection have been confirmed in Brazil, the first in Latin America, three of them in the state of Ceará (two babies and one man), another two in Rio de Janeiro (two adolescents) and one in Sao Paul.

Despite the interest generated by this situation, which led to the neologism, the Brazilian regional authorities recognize that it is not something new and that in other countries, such as the United States, there were cases of patients with double infection in 2020.

Even the authorities of Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil and the one most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, admitted that they have other records of coinfections but that they do not keep statistics on them.

The specialists admit that the cases can be numerous but difficult to be counted because laboratory confirmation of the two infections is necessary and many times the patients are not subjected to laboratory tests or are only tested for one of the viruses. usually COVID-19.

But the records must multiply in the coming days because some states of Brazil, such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, face, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, serious influenza outbreaks, which indicates that both viruses are circulating simultaneously. and widely.

The flurone cases came back to attention last Saturday after Israel announced the registration of its first case of manufacture in a pregnant woman who had not been vaccinated against either virus. Since then, cases have also been registered in Spain and Hungary.

For health authorities, cases of double infection are sporadic, but so far they have not evolved into serious situations.

“It is important to note that there are no published scientific studies that confirm the clinical or immunological implications of a joint infection; we will follow any case that is notified”Said the Rio de Janeiro Health Secretariat in a statement.

Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the second in number of deaths from coronavirus after the United States, with about 619,000 cases, and the third in infections after the United States and India, with about 22.3 million cases.