Influenza in the USA or coronavirus in the world: which is actually worse and more contagious

Quarantined cities in China and Italy, disinfection of streets and cars, total temperature measurement and cancellation of the Venice Festival ... The new Covid-19 coronavirus scares people around the world. More than three thousand people died from it, and more than 92 thousand fell ill, notes Air force.

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At the same time, about a billion people suffer from the flu every year in the world, and hundreds of thousands die.

What is scarier and more contagious - the flu or the Chinese coronavirus?

What is coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illness in people and animals, ranging from the common cold to a severe respiratory infection.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a coronavirus and previously unknown to science.

The most common symptoms of coronavirus are fever, weakness, and dry cough. Some patients may experience aching muscles and joints, runny nose, sore throat, or diarrhea.

What is flu?

Influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses that have been circulating throughout the world for thousands of years.

Symptoms of influenza: high fever that lasts five days; fever, headache; aching muscles and joints; general weakness, cough, runny nose.

Coronavirus: how much sick and dies?

The coronavirus began to spread from China, but as of March 3, it was found in more than 75 countries around the world.

More than 3000 people have died from coronavirus in the world, and more than 92 have fallen ill.

According to preliminary estimates by scientists, about 2% of patients die from this disease. The largest number of coronavirus victims has now been recorded in the Chinese province of Hubei, which has become the epicenter of the spread of the disease. There the mortality rate is high - 2,9%.

How much does the flu kill?

On average, 0,16% of patients die from influenza in the United States. From October 1, 2019 to February 22, 2020, according to rough estimates of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recorded from 32 to 45 million cases of influenza, during the same period in the United States died from 18 to 46 thousand people. Because influenza surveillance does not cover all cases, the CDC provides these ranges to demonstrate how prevalent the disease is. Estimates are based on weekly CDC influenza surveillance data and are preliminary.

In the 2018-2019 season, 35 people fell ill with the United States and 520 people died.

According to WHO, influenza infects up to a billion people worldwide every year. For 3-5 million people, the disease is very severe. From 250 to 650 die. People die not from the flu itself, but from the complications it causes - pneumonia, pulmonary heart failure. Different strains of influenza circulate in different years - more or less aggressive. The number of infected and the number of victims depends on this.

In the United States, the number of patients with coronavirus as of March 3, 2020 was 105 people, 4 people died, writes USA Today.

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How does coronavirus flow?

Some people who have caught coronavirus have no symptoms at all.

According to WHO, 80% of coronavirus-infected people recover without requiring special treatment.

More than 48 thousand people all over the world became ill with coronavirus and fully recovered.

One in six coronavirus-infected people can have serious complications, the most common being pneumonia. At risk are older people, medical workers, people who have chronic diseases.

People with high blood pressure, heart problems, and diabetes are more prone to coronavirus complications.

Among patients with coronavirus, very few children.

Who is flu?

Unlike coronavirus, children under five and people over 65 are most vulnerable to the flu. Also at risk are people with chronic diseases (lung diseases, asthma, diabetes, obesity) and pregnant women.

“These people need to be especially attentive, careful and be sure to get vaccinated. If they do develop flu symptoms, be sure to seek medical help,” says Elena Lutskaya, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and pediatrician.

Flu symptoms occur suddenly and can last from a few days to several weeks.

What is more contagious - flu or coronavirus?

Influenza is transmitted primarily through coughing, sneezing, or close contact. People with the flu can be contagious in the first 5-7 days of illness.

Coronavirus can also be transmitted through the coughing and sneezing of an infected person. Small particles during coughing can settle on surrounding objects. Other people can catch the virus by touching these objects and then touching their faces—eyes, nose, mouth—with dirty hands.

That is why, according to WHO recommendations, it is very important to be at a distance of more than one meter from the patient with coronavirus, and also to wash your hands regularly and thoroughly.

Although there is no complete data on coronavirus so far, its contagiousness (infectiousness) is lower than that of diseases such as flu and measles, explains Yuri Zhigarev, an infectious disease doctor and a candidate of medical sciences.

Coronavirus: why are we so scared?

“We are afraid of coronavirus because we are afraid of something unknown. This is a new strain, still little studied,” says doctor Elena Lutskaya.

If we understand what flu is and what to expect from it, then what to expect from coronavirus, we do not know yet. Because it is a virus that can change, mutate, says Yuri Zhigarev.

According to him, if you can predict with the flu how many people will get sick and how many will die in a year, then there are no such forecasts for the coronavirus.

The pace of its spread is either slowing down or accelerating.

“Why did the WHO say that coronavirus is a global danger? Because this virus has pandemic potential. What does it mean? This means that if the coronavirus mutates and can infect people even faster, then we could have a large epidemic,” said the infectious disease doctor.

That is why, according to Zhigarev, from a scientific point of view it is incorrect to compare mortality from influenza and from coronavirus, because with coronavirus the situation “can change in any direction.”

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Flu is also serious

Zhigarev calls for attentive, but without panic, treatment of both flu and coronavirus.

WHO considers influenza one of the most serious public health problems in the world.

The influenza virus also constantly mutates: in fact, it “masks” all the time, trying to overcome the protective barriers of our immune system, warns the WHO.

When a new virus appears that can easily infect a person and spread among people, and against which most people are not immune, this infection can develop into a pandemic.

“The threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present,” says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “There is always a real risk of transmission of a new influenza virus from animals to humans and, possibly, the emergence of a pandemic. The question is not if we will have another pandemic, but when we will have it.”

Such a pandemic occurred in 2009, when the flu virus A (H1N1), which was called swine, died, according to various estimates, from 100 to 400 people in more than 000 countries around the world.

This year this virus has returned. Although it has lost its pandemic properties, it is one of the most dangerous among viruses, they say at the Center for Public Health. It is this strain of flu this year that causes the greatest number of complications that can result in death.

“But there is good news - the flu epidemic should soon decline and sunny weather will contribute to this. In March-April there will no longer be a big epidemic,” says Zhigarev.

How to protect yourself from the flu?

Vaccination protects best against flu.

“Get an annual flu vaccination: even if you get the flu, your symptoms will be milder,” says the World Health Organization.

Vaccination is especially important for children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

“It’s never too late to get vaccinated against the flu. You can also get vaccinated during an epidemic. It definitely won't get any worse. It will either be better, you will have time to develop immunity, or the same,” says infectious disease specialist Elena Lutskaya.

Wash your hands regularly, do not touch your face with dirty hands, avoid contact with sick people, disinfect surfaces if there is a sick person near you, and frequently ventilate the room - these are the WHO recommendations for preventing influenza infection.

How to protect yourself from coronavirus?

Do not panic.

Although the coronavirus vaccine has not yet been invented, as well as specific antiviral treatment, scientists are working on it.

In addition, most patients recover through treatment. Infected people are treated by alleviating their symptoms.

WHO published recommendations on how to reduce the risk of contracting a new virus: wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, do not touch your face, or eat poorly processed meat, milk, and eggs.

Avoid traveling to areas where the virus is spreading, avoid contact with sick people, and stay more than a meter away from anyone who is sneezing or coughing. Maintain cough hygiene.

If a person has been on a trip and has symptoms of the disease, it is imperative to consult a doctor.

“The good news is that many people are recovering from coronavirus. Yes, we are afraid of the unknown, but to say that this is a plague is wrong,” says doctor Elena Lutskaya.

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