The Lancet: Simultaneous infection with new crown and influenza increases the risk of severe illness and death

Written | Edited by Wang Cong | Typesetting by Wang Duoyu | Shui Chengwen On March 25, 2022, researchers from the University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, Leiden University and Imperial College London published an article in The Lancet entitled: SARS - Research paper on CoV-2 co-infection with influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, or adenoviruses
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The research team's study of more than 300,000 hospitalized patients with Covid-19 found that adults who were infected with both Covid-19 and the flu had a significantly increased risk of severe illness and death compared with those infected with Covid-19 alone
.

Specifically, the risk of needing ventilator treatment was 4.
14 times, and the risk of death was 2.
35 times
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The study is part of the Coronavirus Clinical Characterization Consortium of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC) and is the largest study to date of people infected with COVID-19 and other endemic respiratory viruses
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The ISARIC Alliance was formed in 2013 to prepare for a respiratory virus pandemic
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The research team looked at data from more than 305,000 adults hospitalised with Covid-19 in the UK between 6 February 2020 and 8 December 2021
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Among them, 6,965 people were also detected to be infected with the respiratory virus during the new crown hospitalization
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Of those, 227 were co-infected with the flu virus, and those people experienced more severe symptoms
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Specifically, patients who contracted the flu virus while hospitalized for COVID-19 infection had a 4.
14 times higher risk of developing a ventilator than those hospitalized with COVID-19 alone, and a 2.
35 times higher risk of dying
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Dr.
Maaike Swets, the first author of the paper, said that in the more than two years of the new crown pandemic, we have often witnessed new crown infected people become seriously ill, and sometimes even need to enter the ICU and use a ventilator for treatment
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The flu virus can also cause these similarly severe symptoms
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But little is known about the consequences of co-infection with Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses
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And this statistic clearly tells us that it is particularly dangerous to be infected with the new coronavirus and influenza virus at the same time
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At present, many countries have begun to liberalize the social distancing policy of the new crown, which will lead to the simultaneous transmission of the new crown and the flu, increasing the chance of co-infection
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Therefore, the current testing strategy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 should be changed and influenza testing should be more widely available
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The authors of the paper said that simultaneous infection with the new crown and influenza viruses is not common, but it is important to realize that this situation is actually happening, and when it occurs, it will greatly increase the risk of severe illness and death
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The treatment of new coronavirus infection and influenza virus infection is not the same, so it is necessary to conduct flu testing at the same time in hospitalized patients with new crown virus
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At the same time, this study also emphasizes the importance of vaccination against the new crown and influenza
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