Hospitalized coronavirus patients are twice as likely to die as those with the flu – BGR

• Researchers at the University of Washington compared hospitalized patients with severe coronavirus infections with patients with severe flu.
• Scientists concluded that COVID-19 patients are twice as likely to die in hospital as those with flu, further underscoring the dangers of the novel coronavirus over the flu.
• Flu vaccines are advised to reduce the risk of double infection, with researchers recommending face masks and social distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The new coronavirus has been confronted with the flu and the common cold since the early days of COVID-19. At the time, the clinical presentation of the new disease seemed to match the symptoms of the flu and the common cold perfectly. Some people have died from COVID-19, but many people also die from flu infections. As we learned more about SARS-CoV-2, however, it has become increasingly clear that the new virus has nothing to do with the flu or cold. The pathogen is more contagious and can lead to serious complications with lasting effects. Some people suffer from “long COVID” for several months after the initial infection is cleared. Several studies have also shown that the death rate is much higher than the flu, which is another reason why the new coronavirus is not like the flu.

Finally, there are many over-the-counter medications to treat the flu, and there are also vaccines that help prevent infections. For COVID-19, home therapy is limited and vaccines won’t be widely available for quite a while. Drugs that have some efficacy in COVID-19 – remdesivir, dexamethasone, blood thinners, plasma transfusions, monoclonal antibodies – can only be given in the hospital, and some of them are given only in the presence of serious complications. Treating influenza in hospitals is much simpler and more successful, and now a new study shows exactly that: Hospitalized COVID-19 patients are twice as likely to die as people admitted to hospital with the flu.

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UW Medicine researchers studied patients with severe COVID-19 and compared them to patients infected with influenza A or B and admitted to intensive care units. The scientists reviewed the data between January 1 and April 15, publishing their results in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

The researchers found that hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were critically ill had a death rate of 40 percent, compared with just 19 percent of flu patients. People infected with the new coronavirus needed mechanical ventilation longer than flu patients. They also had worse lung function and were more likely to develop severe lung inflammation.

“The discovery that ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) may be more prevalent among critically ill patients with COVID is important in understanding why there may be a difference in mortality between the two diseases,” said lead author Dr. Natalie Cobb, per Seattle Times. “We also found that patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 had a tendency toward worse clinical outcomes than ARDS patients with influenza.”

He continued: “I strongly encourage people to get the flu shot and continue social distancing and masking measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.”

The study is quite easy to follow and is available in full at this link. An interesting thing the researchers explain are the signs and symptoms of the two diseases and the results of various tests performed during hospitalization. Here is a summary describing the potential differences between severe coronavirus and severe flu infections.

• COVID-19 patients had a longer duration of symptoms before admission (7 days versus 3.5 days)
• COVID-19 patients had more symptoms upon hospital admission
• No symptoms differentiated the two diseases
• 40% of each group showed fever upon admission
• White blood cell counts were higher in patients with influenza at the time of admission
• Lymphocyte counts were similar, and 80% of both groups had counts below 1,500 per cubic mm.
• Patients with COVID-19 had elevated inflammatory blood markers (C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, and interleukin-6), but they were not commonly measured in patients with influenza
• D-dimmer was elevated in both groups, while other coagulation markers did not differ in the first 3 days of hospitalization (INR, PTT)
• Influenza patients had a higher percentage of sputum cultures showing bacterial growth soon after admission
• Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism identified in late sputum cultures
• Fifteen percent of COVID-19 patients had positive blood cultures compared with 8 percent for influenza
• Viral coinfection was found in 4/36 influenza cases compared to 1/17 of COVID-19 patients
• 92% of COVID-19 patients had lung damage visible on X-rays (bilateral opacities) compared with 64% of flu patients
• A similar percentage of patients required invasive mechanical ventilation (59% for COVID-19 vs. 55% for influenza) and vasopressor therapy for shock (55% vs. 49%)
• ARDS was much more common in coronavirus patients (63% vs 26%)

As with other studies, this too requires further research. This may be the first study of its kind in the United States to compare the two patient groups, but there is one limitation that is immediately clear to the current state of the pandemic. The conclusion that twice as many COVID-19 patients are at risk of dying in hospital than from the flu, combined with the clinical presentation described above, shows that the new virus is more dangerous and deadly than the flu – and that it was difficult to treat. at the beginning of the pandemic. However, the COVID-19 treatment that doctors had access to at the time included only hydroxychloroquine, a drug we now know is not effective against COVID-19. Comparatively, influenza patients were given a known antiviral, with oseltamivir being the most common.

COVID-19 therapy has improved significantly since mid-April, when this study ended. Patients will receive blood thinners, remdesivir and dexamethasone in the hospital, depending on their condition and the availability of medications. Blood plasma transfusions and other experimental drugs may also be available in some medical centers. These treatments could save more lives than before, and we already know that COVID-19 therapy has improved significantly. But thousands of people are dying from COVID-19 every day in the United States right now, and deaths from the flu are nowhere near that high. More hospitalized COVID-19 patients are likely to die than those with the flu, despite access to better treatment. Also, since the start of the pandemic, people are dying every day from complications of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the flu is mostly active during the winter.

Countries in the Southern Hemisphere have shown that preventative measures against COVID-19 can also effectively block flu outbreaks. This means that face masks and social distancing may also help prevent flu deaths in the Northern Hemisphere this year.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and before he knew it he shared his views on tech topics with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he can’t miserably stay away from them, even if he tries desperately. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.