It's Official: Covid-19 Is Not "Just Another Flu"

It ’s official : Covid-19 is deadlier than the seasonal flu .

That ’s the decision of a young study guide by the University of Washington that looked to find the interior dying pace among mass in the US infected with SARS - CoV-2 , the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 . Reported in the journalHealth Affairs , their statistical model found that people who exhibit symptom of Covid-19 have a fatality rate of around 1.3 percent . For comparison , the pace of death for the seasonal grippe is 0.1 percent .

“ COVID-19 contagion is deadlier than flu — we can put that debate to rest period , ” Anirban Basu , study author and professor of health economics at the UW School of Pharmacy , said in astatement .

The researchers gather the information from the UW Choice Institute School of Pharmacy’sCovid-19 platform , whichlooks at infection and human death rates by US counties for multitude with symptom . Out of the areas that contained enough robust data point ( 116 county in 33 states ) , the contagion human death pace in the US was estimate to be 1.3 percent , with county - specific rate change between   0.5 pct to 3.6 percentage .

While it ’s deserving remembering that many people can be infected with Covid-19 and only feel minimal to no symptom , the statistics are still jarring .

The researchers say the conservative estimate of 20 percent of the US population becoming infect by the closing of this year could result in the number of decease mount to between 350,000 and 1.2 million . However , they were quick to bestow that these projections are subject to modification depending on the public health answer to the ongoing crisis .

“ This is a staggering turn , which can only be brought down with good public health measures , ” Professor Basu said .

“ The overall estimation can both increase or reduction in the future , depending on the demographics where the infections will be spreading . It is potential , as the contagion spreads to more rural counties of the country , the overall transmission human death pace will increase due to the lack of access to necessary wellness attention delivery . ”

This inquiry   is n’t the first to conclude that Covid-19 is not “ just another flu . ” Last week , an article inJAMA Internal Medicinefound Covid-19 induce 20 times more deaths per week compared to the seasonal influenza even in the deadliest hebdomad of an intermediate influenza season .

Writing in the written report , Dr Carlos del Rio and Dr Jeremy Faust say that political leader and public material body often cast compare between seasonal grippe and SARS - CoV-2 mortality “ in an attempt to minimize the effects of the unfolding pandemic . ” However , they argue these compare are based on lead astray assumptions and the fact that the routine of people wipe out by flu is n’t reported in the same fashion as Covid-19 dying . If the two diseases are counterpoint with an " apples - to - apples comparison , " they argue , then the stark world of the Covid-19 pandemic becomes all the clear .

“ Although functionary may say that SARS - CoV-2 is ‘ just another flu , ’ this is not true , ” the investigator reason .