Corona versus flu, a brief comparison

To start with, we must know that the first and most major difference between the flu and novel coronavirus, is how little we know about the latter. Both viruses—influenza (type A & B) and corona virus (covid 19)—are highly infectious diseases with similar symptoms, transmission, and prevention methods, but is one necessarily worse than the other?

The most common symptoms for both may be similar, the corona patient may have a dry cough, fever and tiredness, but some people may also experience aches and pains, nasal congestion, a runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea which may resemble symptoms of a flu. But the flu symptoms can come on very quickly and include a sudden fever, aching body, feeling tired or exhausted, a dry cough, a sore throat, and headache. Still the mode of transmission is similar in both which is by respiratory droplets.

While the majority of people infected with the flu will be fully recovered in about two weeks, for some people (most often those with compromised immune systems), the flu can lead to complications like pneumonia yet, recent data this year just 1% of people suffering from the flu have been hospitalized. Another recent study, considered the largest on COVID-19 by researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Protection, analyzed 80.9% were considered mild, 13.8% severe and 4.7%critical. Another study of COVID-19 cases in the United States found that 12% were hospitalized.

Researchers still aren't sure how contagious COVID-19 is compared to other viruses, but it appears to spread more rapidly than the flu . The death rate from seasonal flu is typically around 0.1% in the U.S., according to The New York Times. Though the death rate for COVID-19 is unclear, most research suggests it is higher than that of the seasonal flu which reached around 2.3% in mainland China. In addition, older adults have been hit the hardest. The death rate soars to 14.8% in those 80 and older and just 0.2% for people ages 10 to 39. However, it was as high as 12% in Wuhan, 4% in Hubei Province and 0.9% in the rest of China.

Unlike seasonal flu, for which there is a vaccine to protect against infection, while the vaccine for COVID-19 is in the early stages of developing one by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

WHO says that both the time from infection to the appearance of symptoms is shorter for the influenza virus (1-4 days), meaning that it is able to spread quicker than the new corona virus (1-14 days).

The most at-risk groups are also slightly different between the two illnesses. Current understanding of Covid-19 suggests that elderly people and those with underlying illnesses have the biggest risk of developing a severe infection, while those most at-risk from influenza also include children and pregnant women. Initial evidence suggests that, while children are important drivers of transmitting influenza, they are less affected than adults by Covid-19. These were the latest information for the time being that we were able to know for comparison, but is still considered little.