"What is ‘flurona’? What to know about co-infections of COVID-19 and the flu"
The Wall Street Journal interviewed Dr. Timothy Brewer about the possibility of contracting COVID-19 and flu at the same time.
![Close-up of virus](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/hero/public/2022-09/2022.01.07_Brewer_WSJ_Masthead.png?itok=eqloCoo8)
“Flurona” isn’t a new COVID-19 variant. Nor is it a new disease or any kind of medical term.
The word flurona has gained popularity as a way to describe the condition of testing positive for both COVID-19 and the flu at the same time. As flu season picks up in the U.S. and in other countries, some hospitals and COVID-19 testing sites in California and Texas in the U.S., and overseas in Israel are reporting instances of people having both influenza and COVID-19.
Co-infections of two separate respiratory diseases aren’t a new phenomenon—and reports of people testing positive for COVID-19 and the flu date to the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, infectious-disease experts say.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
![Dr. Dvora Joseph Davey](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-09/Dvora%20Joseph%20Davey%20headshot%20Feb%202019.jpg?itok=F2RZIQRF)
Dr. Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 20 years' experience leading research on HIV/STI services for women and children.
![Robert Kim-Farley](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-11/___Robert_Kim-Farley-sq.jpg?itok=2D4uW5pC)
Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
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