Three times more deadly than the Covid-19 flu, according to research

According to a survey conducted in Spain, if you mark the numbers, COVID-19 It’s three times as deadly as the flu.

The European Conference on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from April 23 to 26 this year.

Experts pointed it out COVID-19 Despite being young and having few chronic illnesses, it is more deadly than influenza. The study also suggests that Covid-19 is associated with both extended hospital stays and intensive care, and that treatment costs almost twice as much.

Analysis revealed that Covid-19 had a high severity of infection and a high risk of hospitalization in the ICU.

Researchers at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, ​​Spain, examined the medical records of 187 patients (mean age 76 years, 55% male) who were hospitalized for seasonal influenza between 2017 and 2019.

They also analyzed 187 records COVID-19 Patients (mean age 67 years, 49% male) were hospitalized during the first wave of the pandemic from March to May 2020 and all required oxygen therapy on admission.

In both groups, patients were enrolled consecutively until the required sample size was reached.

This study compared the use of medical resources such as clinical characteristics, length of stay, admission to the intensive care unit, hospital costs, and death.

Influenza patients tended to have more chronic illnesses and activities of daily living problems than Covid-19 patients, but were less likely to be overweight or obese.

“Our findings suggest that Covid-19 is far more deadly than influenza. Despite the fact that influenza patients are older and have more comorbidities, Covid-19 patients are consistent. The condition has deteriorated and the treatment has been quite expensive, “said Inmaculada Lopez Montesisinos, lead author of the study. From the hospital Delmar.

“Even the lucky people who survived COVID-19 and were able to leave the hospital will be hurt forever by the consequences. It is important that the people are fully vaccinated and boosted against both viruses. “Montesinos said.

Patients with COVID-19 are more likely to experience certain complications such as acute kidney injury, blood clots, and moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the lungs do not provide sufficient oxygen to vital organs of the body.

On the other hand, influenza patients were more likely to suffer from bacterial pneumonia, according to researchers.

Overall, 29 of 187 (15%) COVID-19 patients and 10 of 187 (5%) influenza patients died for some reason within 30 days of admission, with even higher mortality after 90 days. it was high. Said.

The authors of the study stated that there was no difference in mortality trends among the three seasonal influenza periods studied.

After considering potential confusion such as age, comorbidities, gender, severity of the disease, presence of pneumonia, and corticosteroid treatment, researchers found that Covid-19 patients were within 30 and 90 days of admission. From influenza patients who have found that they are more than three times more likely to die.

Further analysis showed that Covid-19 patients spent much longer in the hospital than flu patients, the researchers said.

They say that the average cost of critical care for Covid-19 patients was almost double that of influenza patients, and the cost of pharmacy treatment and testing was also significantly higher in the COVID-19 group.

The authors acknowledge that there are some limitations of the study, including that performed at one tertiary care hospital in Spain, so the findings may not be generalized to other populations.

They also did not perform genotyping studies and it is likely that COVID-19 patients were affected by wild-type B.1, but the results are now circulating with multiple SARS-CoV-2 mutants. Globally stated that it may not reflect the scenario of.