Tests have shown that the flu can suppress SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes the pandemic – by stopping it from attacking the lungs. However, infection with SARS-CoV-2 first did not appear to offer any protection against influenza. Researchers have no evidence that Covid would be milder if someone had the flu a few days before. However, they say it shows co-infection, or flurona as it has been called, “does not represent a looming threat to humanity.” Hamsters infected with both viruses at the same time were not more likely to suffer a worse outcome. The New York University study comes amid concerns about a twin surge of Covid and flu this winter. New York scientists found that getting the flu and then getting Covid helped suppress the latter, a finding they said meant simultaneous infections of the two respiratory viruses did not pose a “looming threat to humanity”.
Covid restrictions could return to ‘protect the NHS’
Britain could return to its policy of “protecting the NHS” for Covid if the latest surge in cases and hospital admissions hampers the health service’s ability to deal with other conditions, a government minister has admitted. Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, said the extortionate free-flow side-flow testing program could return as he raised the prospect of mandatory face masks also returning. Both measures were scrapped in April as part of the No 10 ‘living with Covid’ plan. He told the House of Lords yesterday: “They [health officials] they still focus on the backlog. If it gets to a point where it affects the backlog, then it’s clear that measures may have to be introduced.” Individual hospitals have already begun reinstating face masks and social distancing in corridors and waiting rooms as Covid hospital admissions near an 18-month high in the first sign of restrictions returning to normal life. There were 1,911 Covid admissions in England on July 4 – the most recent date with data – and at the current rate they are expected to rise further in the coming days. If average daily imports exceed 2,100, it will be the highest number since the peak of the second wave in January 2021 – when they were more than 4,000. But only a third of patients are primarily sick with Covid, suggesting the surge in admissions is a symptom of high rates of infection rather than serious illness. The majority (64 percent) are known as “accidental” cases – patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive. More than 2.7 million Britons were estimated to be infected with Covid – one in 24 people – at the end of June. Trusts have warned that they are facing increasing staff absences caused by high levels of transmission in the community, coupled with added admissions pressure. Australia is currently suffering its worst flu outbreak in years, sparking warnings that the same situation will hit the northern hemisphere. The flu has been effectively suppressed by the restrictions put in place to combat Covid, meaning the nation has little immunity to it. Meanwhile, SARS-CoV-2 will continue to circulate potentially wreaking havoc on NHS wards, fueling staff absences and adding to admissions. Public health bosses earlier in the pandemic warned that people were in “serious trouble” if they caught Fluron. Government research showed co-infection doubled the risk of death. But experts later warned that the fears were overblown. Professor Benjamin tenOever, author of the New York University study, said it was important to do further studies on co-infections. His team’s tests on hamsters infected with both viruses indicated that both at the same time did not lead to worse outcomes – regardless of how they were infected. The same tests also revealed that hamsters infected with the flu had lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 than the other groups. Furthermore, this suppressive effect on the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2 was found to last a week after the rodent’s body had fought off the flu. “These data suggest the presence of intrinsic or (influenza A virus)-induced factors that may limit the growth of SARS-CoV-2,” said Professor tenOever. “But it remains unclear whether this effect plays a role in disease severity. “These results suggest that co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A is not an imminent threat to humanity.” The paper, published in the Journal of Virology, looked at just one type of flu. Both viruses, influenza and SARS-CoV-2, multiply in the lungs. Covid is on the rise in the UK, with more than 2.7 million people estimated to have been infected with the virus – one in 24 people – at the end of June. NHS trusts have warned they are facing increasing staff absences caused by high levels of transmission in the community, coupled with added pressure on admissions. And yesterday Lord Syed Kamall, a junior health minister, admitted Britain could return to a policy of “protecting the NHS” on Covid if the latest surge in cases and hospital admissions hampers the health service’s capacity to treat other ailments. He said the extortionate free lateral flow test system and mandatory face masks could be some of the measures to be brought back. There were 1,911 Covid admissions in England on July 4 – the most recent date with data – and at the current rate they are expected to rise further. If average daily imports exceed 2,100, it will be the highest number since the peak of the second wave in January 2021 – when they were more than 4,000. But only a third of patients are primarily sick with Covid, suggesting the surge in admissions is a symptom of high rates of infection rather than serious illness. The majority (64 percent) are known as “accidental” cases – patients who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive.
