Flurona: no, the flu and the coronavirus cannot become a “hybrid” virus

One in Israel, the other in the United States … In recent days, cases of influenza and Covid-19 infection have been discovered around the world and have caused a stir in the press. The simple name given to these cases (“Flurona”, a contraction of influenza – Flu in English – and coronavirus), suggests that these two viruses would have turned into one.

A quick press review makes it possible to find subjects relaying this type of innuendo. First in the French press, an article by here is of January 3, for example as follows: “Camille Lellouche annoyed: she attacks (with humor) the new variant Flurona”. This expression of “new Flurona variant” is also listed on social networks by several citizen accounts. Other profiles, considered unreliable, suggest a fusion of viruses, such as this publication of Conflict over flu and covid case discovered in Israel. In the USA, the CBS channel talks about “combination of influenza and coronavirus”, a formulation that is ambiguous to say the least.

On reading these different publications, one might think that we are facing a formidable new variant due to the “fusion” of these two respiratory viruses. This is not the case since it is a double infection, which can happen and what has happened elsewhere since the start of the epidemic. In February 2020, at the beginnings of the pandemic, cases had already been discovered in the United States, as told The Atlantic.

Although in the minority, these double contaminations are therefore possible. “Two viruses from a different family can infect the same person. We can possibly detect this co-infection if the viral loads allow it”, confirms Vincent Enouf, deputy director of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Viruses at the Institut Pasteur.

In reality, it is almost impossible for these two respiratory viruses to merge one day: to speak of a “hybrid virus” or of a “Flurona variant” is therefore false. For Vincent Enouf, “We must forget that immediately”: “That there is the fusion of a genome of influenza virus with a coronavirus, it has never been seen. It is something that we do not think about not even as a scientist. Quite simply because they are not from the same family. All respiratory viruses remain in their families today, there is no passage of genetic material from one family to another. ‘other.”

In contrast, viruses belonging to the same family can merge. This is the case with coronaviruses: this then creates new variants. Moreover, Pasteur’s scientist does not exclude to this day that Omicron is a “recombination of different viruses” : “That could explain why we had a lot of mutations all of a sudden. It is something that can be envisaged.”

To come back to these co-infections, it is therefore difficult to say exactly what they represent among the cases tested positive for Covid. In general, being infected with two respiratory viruses at the same time remains rare, says Vincent Enouf. “In the laboratories, we only look for SARS-CoV2. We therefore do not know if there is the presence of an influenza virus. And then there is always a virus which is in the majority compared to the other. You can potentially miss out on co-infections. “ The Institut Pasteur is thinking about looking for the presence of influenza when looking for the coronavirus virus. This would make it possible to detect more co-infections, absent from radars until then.

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