Here’s what happens if you get flu and Covid at the same time - and how to protect yourself

A Californian has become the latest patient to be found to have contracted Covid-19 and influenza at the same time.

The Solano County Department of Health and Social Services in the Bay Area broke the news of a man who had suffered from a flu-Covid co-infection.

But is a flu-Covid co-infection something we should be worried about - and what are the symptoms?

Here is everything you need to know.

Is it possible to contract Covid-19 and flu at the same time?

Yes, it’s entirely possible to contract Covid-19 and flu at the same time.

The news coming out of California confirms this, and although that case is making headlines, it is far from the first.

As far back as March, it was reported that nine patients from Wuhan (the Chinese city where the coronavirus is believed to have originated) tested positive for Covid-19 and influenza viruses.

Of these nine patients, only one had not recovered from Covid-19 by the time The Lancet – which published the findings – had gone to print.

Since then, there have been over 80 published reports of patients infected with both influenza and Covid-19 from around the world.

Are you more likely to die if you have both?

The verdict’s still out on that one.

In many of the studies mentioned above, researchers found that the influenza infection did not make the Covid-19 patients’ medical outcomes any better or worse.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

However, in the UK, many scientists – including England’s chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam – believe contracting both the flu and Covid-19 together significantly increases your risk of death.

His conclusions are based on evidence from a study of only 58 people, carried out in the UK during the early stages of the pandemic; we’ve learned a lot more about Covid-19 since then.

Prof Van-Tam said the study, although small, tallied with other work that has been done, and said in September: “As I understand it, it’s 42 per cent of those with co-infection died compared with 26.9 per cent of those who tested positive for Covid only.”

He added that these were people who had been hospitalised and had tested positive for both the flu and Covid-19.

Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England said, “The last thing you really want to have is flu. And if you do think you have either flu or Covid, stay at home and self-isolate. That’s to protect yourself - you’d be feeling very miserable - but also to protect others.