Patients with Covid-19 are twice as likely to die as those with the flu, according to the study

This higher in-hospital mortality rate – 40% for Covid-19 patients versus 19% for those with influenza – was independent of age, gender, concomitant health problems, and disease severity while in the ICU. according to this research published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

This study is believed to be the first in the United States to directly compare clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and health outcomes between patients with Covid-19 and those who contracted the flu.

The study authors looked at the medical records of 65 patients with severe Covid-19 and 74 others with severe influenza A or B who were admitted to intensive care at two University of Washington hospitals between January 1. 2019 and April 15, 2020.

Their work revealed that Covid-19 positive people had a hospital mortality rate of 40%, compared to 19% for those affected by the flu. They also seemed to have to stay on mechanical ventilation longer, had poorer lung function, and were more likely to develop severe lung inflammation than those with the flu.

The discovery that ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) may be more prevalent in critically ill patients with Covid is important to understand why there may be a difference in mortality between the two diseases, “explains Natalie Cobb, pulmonary MD and lead author of the study. “We also found that patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 tended to have worse clinical outcomes than those with one after the flu.”

At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, many comparisons were made between Covid-19 and influenza infection, which is responsible for a significant number of hospitalizations and deaths each year, both in the United States and around the world. Although previous studies had not directly compared the two diseases, research had already shown that there are significant differences between them in terms of the proportion of seriously ill people and mortality.

The study authors, however, urge people to get the flu shot and pursue social distancing measures and wear masks to limit the spread of the coronavirus.