Flurona complicates the COVID-19 pandemic

Sophomore Hollis Costa said, “I have heard of flurona, it sounds really gnarly.” Graphic by: Alejandro Hernandez.

Alejandro Hernandez and Ava Mohror
January 19, 2022

Combination of flu and COVID-19 cause concern among VHS students and staff

Flurona, the state of having both Influenza and COVID-19 at the same time. There is one confirmed case of the recent phenomena in Los Angeles County (there are no documented cases within the county of Ventura). With flu season coming up and the surge of COVID-19 cases, it will not be uncommon for individuals to test positive for both at the same time.

Sophomore Alexis Segovia said, “It [flurona] makes us truly aware of how much we don’t know about these threats to our families and community.” COVID-19 tests can be received at the Records window, with a student ID. Photo by: Ava Mohror.

Flurona is not the fusion of the COVID-19 virus and the Influenza virus, it is simply having both viruses at the same time. Both viruses spread through the respiratory system; therefore they are caught the same way and can be caught at the same time. 

In a poll of 107 VHS students, 54 percent (58 votes) answered that they were aware of what flurona was. However, 46 percent (49 votes) answered they were not. According to Cedars Sinai, and epidemiologist Johnathan Grein, “It’s obviously not good to be infected with two viruses rather than one, but there’s no clear indication that this is a particularly bad combination.”

As of Jan. 11, the state of Calif. is in the midst of a COVID-19 spike, with a 346 percent increase in reported cases in the past 14 days. Cases of flurona however, remain low. Only about 0.4 percent of COVID-19 patients in the U.S. also had the flu. 

Sophomore Hollis Costa, who was quarantined after contracting COVID-19, said, “It’s pretty hard to keep my grades up cause most teachers don’t do Canvas, but it’s not too bad socially because I can still text people.”

A potential concern of flurona with a new spike of COVID-19 would be the conditions that could lead to school closure. Costa said, “I know there’s the law [against distance learning] so we can’t do distance learning but I do think we should take a little break to get this thing under control, maybe just a week.”

“N95 masks are something that I believe is something simple we can do to take our part, along with social distancing,” stated sophomore Alexis Segovia. Graphic by: Ava Mohror.

Sophomore Alexis Segovia agrees with Costa and said, “I definitely think people will underestimate the real problem of flurona as they have with COVID. Especially when the school system is refusing to acknowledge the real problem of increasing COVID cases, it feels like the school doesn’t want to acknowledge it.”

As new variants and strains of COVID-19 are being discovered, concern continues to rise over the pandemic. With the added concern of the possibility of getting flurona as well, unease will continue to grow.