Israel detected its first case of simultaneous contagion of coronavirus and influenza virus, known as “flurone”, in an unvaccinated pregnant woman, the Israeli Ministry of Health confirmed this Sunday to Efe. The woman was discharged on December 30 after being treated for mild symptoms derived from this double infection, the Times of Israel added.
Cases of “flurone” were first detected in the United States during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts from the Ministry of Health they believe that there are similar cases, not yet identified, when the country registers almost two thousand people hospitalized for influenza, at the same time that the positives of coronavirus by the omicron variant increase.
Circulation of flu and covid-19 viruses are of concern at the same time due to the high risk for the population, especially vulnerable, since the two diseases affect the upper respiratory system, experts warn. “Today, we are seeing cases of both coronavirus and flu that are beginning to reap their heads. We are seeing more and more pregnant women with the flu,” Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the hospitals’ Department of Gynecology, told Ynet.
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They approve the use of the Merck pill
In view of a new adverse scenario in terms of public health, the Israeli Ministry of Health approved this Sunday the use of the antiviral pill against covid-19 from the American pharmaceutical company Merck and announced the signing of a contract to receive the first shipment . Israel has also started administering the drug Paxlovid, Pfizer’s pill, in order to include the treatments in the strategy to combat the pandemic, in addition to vaccination.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized in December the emergency use of this pill, also known as molnupiravir or lagevrio, which reduces hospitalizations and deaths from covid by almost 30%. The treatment was authorized in adults at risk who should start the capsule treatment during the first five days in which they have presented mild to moderate symptoms.
The drug prevents the multiplication of the virus by attacking the enzyme that it uses to make copies of itself, and keeps the viral load at low levels in the body, thereby reducing the severity of the disease. The UK was the first to approve the use of this drug.
Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz warned this weekend that the “drugs against covid they are not a substitute for the vaccine“and asked the uninoculated population to be immunized.
Israel began on December 31 to administer the fourth dose in immunosuppressed people and announced a campaign with this second booster dose among the elderly in residences, geriatric hospitals and protected homes after detecting an increase in infections in these centers. Today the country has almost 6 million residents out of a population of more than 9 million vaccinated with the two doses, and 4.2 million inoculated with the third.
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