If Infected with Both COVID-19 and Flu, Virus Amount Increases 10 Times... Raises Severity and Fatality Rates

Research Results from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency National Institute of Health
Elucidation of Lung Injury Process... Published in a Prestigious International Journal

Domestic researchers have succeeded in elucidating the process by which lung damage worsens when infected with both COVID-19 and influenza simultaneously.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health announced on the 25th that this was confirmed through research using 3D human lung tissue (organoids) made from stem cells. The results of this study were published in the world-renowned infectious disease journal Emerging Microbes & Infections (IF 19.6).

Patients infected with both COVID-19 and influenza have higher rates of severe illness and mortality, but research has been limited due to the lack of suitable in vivo models to analyze the process.

Research schematic. [Data provided by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency]

The research team led by Health Researchers Jeonghyun Kim and Janghoon Choi at the National Institute of Health created 3D human lung tissue from stem cells to investigate this. Using this model, they confirmed that when infected with both COVID-19 and influenza, the viruses mutually increase the receptors needed to enter lung tissue, resulting in approximately a tenfold increase in the amount of intracellular COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2).

This led to increased inflammatory responses and organ damage, revealing the mechanism behind the higher rates of severe illness and mortality. The National Institute of Health stated, "We will continue to actively support collaborative research by internal and external researchers using various human tissue models for basic research on emerging infectious diseases and chronic diseases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.