RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Residents of the city of São Paulo have been diagnosed with Influenza and Covid-19 concurrently in recent weeks. Patients in São Paulo with double infection by Influenza and coronavirus occurred with diagnoses made in the same week or even on the same day.
One of these reports was of journalist Giulia Fernandez, who was confirmed for Covid-19 and Influenza at the same time. The tests were performed on December 20 in a private hospital.
“As my symptoms began on the same day and I was tested on the same day, and both were positive, the isolation period was the same, 10 days. But they were very difficult days, 4 days in bed and I couldn’t get up, and after that I started to gradually recover,” she said.
Last Saturday, the Israeli government for the first time registered a case of double infection in the same person. The condition is known as flurona, a combination of the words “flu” and “coronavirus.”
Nevertheless, doctors explained that double infection has been registered in Brazil for some time now, and that it doesn’t necessarily lead to an increase in the symptoms of the two diseases. There are also records of double infection in other places in Brazil, such as Rio de Janeiro and Ceará.
According to infectologist Mirian Dal’Ben, of the Sírio Libanês Hospital, double infection does not increase the chances of death nor does it make the diseases milder.
“The main point is that people should know that we still have nothing in science that tells us that contracting the two diseases at the same time increases the likelihood of people dying or that the disease may be milder. Neither of the two is the case,” the doctor said.
“We need to monitor both diseases as we would if the person had contracted them independently,” she explained.
The double treatment also occurred at the home of accountant Mario Martins Bastos Junior. Both he and his wife were diagnosed with Covid-19. Before that, his 19-year-old son tested positive for Influenza.
The test results are two days apart: on December 28 for influenza and on December 30 for Covid-19.
“My son is fine, the three of us are fine, medicated, dry cough is the only disturbing part,” the accountant said.
RISE IN CASES
Public and private hospitals in the city of São Paulo have registered an increase in the flow of people with flu symptoms in recent weeks, which has led to lines and longer waiting times for treatment. In municipal emergency rooms, patients claim that the wait may reach 6 hours.
In addition to the Influenza A and B viruses, which cause the flu, the circulation of other viruses may also be behind the sudden increase of a “set of respiratory diseases,” according to doctors.
São Camilo, Beneficência Portuguesa, Einstein, and Santa Catarina hospitals confirmed a sudden rise in the number of patients.
Hospitalizations of suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 have also increased.
The rolling average of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the state’s Intensive Care Units (ICU) began to grow again after a 6-month decline, according to government data.