Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dan Gheban
Department of Pathology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alexandra Mariș
Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 400370 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Silviu Albu
Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, University Clinical Hospital of Railway Company, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Maria Aluaș
Department of Oral Health, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Costel Vasile Siserman
Institute of Legal Medicine, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Bogdan Alexandru Gheban
Department of Histology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
COVID-19-associated coinfections increase the patient’s risk of developing a severe form of the disease and, consequently, the risk of death. The term “flurona” was proposed to describe the coinfection of the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2. This report is about a case of a 7-month-old female infant who died due to flurona coinfection. A histopathological exam showed activation of microglia (becoming CD45 positive), bronchial inflammation, diffuse alveolar damage in proliferative phase with vasculitis, a peribronchial infiltrate that was predominantly CD20-positive, and a vascular wall infiltrate that was predominantly CD3-positive. The aggressiveness of the two respiratory viruses added up and they caused extensive lung inflammation, which led to respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and death. Tissues injuries caused by both the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 could be observed, without the ability to certify the dominance of the aggression of one of the two viruses.
