Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu

Influenza (“the flu”) and COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, are both infectious respiratory illnesses. Although the symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu can look similar, the two illnesses are caused by different viruses.

As of Feb. 28, 2020, the flu is showing much more of an impact on Americans than COVID-19. You can find up-to-date information on COVID-19 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins, explains how the flu and COVID-19 are similar and how they are different. Similarities: COVID-19 and the Flu Symptoms

Both cause fever, cough, body aches, fatigue; sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Can be mild or severe, even fatal in rare cases. Can result in pneumonia.

Both can be spread from person to person through droplets in the air from an infected person coughing, sneezing or talking. A possible difference: COVID-19 might be spread through the airborne route (see details below under Differences). Flu can be spread by an infected person for several days before their symptoms appear, and COVID-19 is believed to be spread in the same manner, but we don’t yet know for sure.

Neither virus is treatable with antibiotics, which only work on bacterial infections. Both may be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever. Severe cases may require hospitalization and support such as mechanical ventilation.

Both may be prevented by frequent, thorough hand washing, coughing into the crook of your elbow, staying home when sick and limiting contact with people who are infected. Differences: COVID-19 and the Flu Cause

COVID-19: Caused by one virus, the novel 2019 coronavirus, now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2.

Flu: Caused by any of several different types and strains of influenza viruses. Transmission

While both the flu and COVID-19 may be transmitted in similar ways (see the Similarities section above), there is also a possible difference: COVID-19 might be spread through the airborne route, meaning that tiny droplets remaining in the air could cause disease in others even after the ill person is no longer near. Antiviral Medications

COVID-19: Antiviral medications are currently being tested to see if they can address symptoms.

Flu: Antiviral medications can address symptoms and sometimes shorten the duration of the illness. Vaccine

Flu: A vaccine is available and effective to prevent some of the most dangerous types or to reduce the severity of the flu. Infections

COVID-19: Approximately 84,119 cases worldwide; 62 cases in the U.S. as of Feb. 28, 2020.

Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year. Deaths

COVID-19: Approximately 2,871 deaths reported worldwide; 0 deaths in the U.S., as of Feb. 28, 2020.

Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.

WHO Recommendations for Prevention:

Wash your hands frequently

Maintain social distancing

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth

Practice respiratory hygiene

If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early

Stay informed and follow advice given by your healthcare provider

WHO: Basic protective measures against the new coronavirus

WHO: What can people do to protect themselves and others from getting the new coronavirus? - Feb 5, 2020 (2 mins)

[If the flu is worse then how come all governments on earth (50 something at last count) have instituted dramatic quarantines, blocked off armed cities with armed guards, banned travel to affected areas, banned travel to and from areas where it is present and in general have done everything humanly possible to keep the virus out of their countries?

They don’t do this for the flu. Why for this virus? ]

Here’s my unscientific take on this. I’m neither Chinese nor in China. My feeling, though, based on personal contacts with acquaintances is that, based on the numbers so far (including places outside of Italy), this is mass hysteria in action. And now the hysteria has spread beyond the Chinese leadership. I don’t want to sound racist, but based on personal observation of my Chinese acquaintances, IMHO, they are a weird combo of compulsive hypochondriacs and believers in traditional pre-scientific medical treatments not too far removed from quackery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine

To the extent that the infection numbers in China are accurate, I expect they have been exacerbated by the Chinese preference for communal dining, using chopsticks to touch the food directly instead of spoons/ladles as an intermediate utensil. Then there’s the custom of substituting Chinese quackery for modern medicine because of a sincere belief that double blind-tested modern drugs with decades of user feedback are harmful, whereas baggies of unfamiliar-looking herbal combos are balanced because traditional Chinese medical “expertise” has thousands of years of recorded history behind it. (And yet somehow this “expertise” somehow failed to cure smallpox, TB, polio or measles). Bottom line? There might be unique elements in the Chinese mix that have made the outbreak worse than it should be, including a sincere belief that modern medical methods are literally life-threatening.

On the other hand, there’s what’s happening in Italy and Iran, where random people are getting infected who should not be infected. They presumably aren’t personally-invested in the idea that modern medicine will get them killed, and Chinese-style communal dining is presumably foreign to their traditions. And yet people are getting infected, and some are dying. What’s more - random people who shouldn’t be getting infected are now showing symptoms.

Even so, the numbers outside of China just don’t seem to justify the hysteria. Maybe we’re in a zero defect society. Stalin is alleged to have said “One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic”. It’s possible that the hysteria is focused on the coronavirus because people can’t comprehend that statistic that 80,000 people stateside are alleged to have died of the flu in 2019, whereas the dozens of people infected by this coronavirus (and the common cold is just a grab bag of random coronaviruses) are a number with comprehensible dimensions such that it’s taking up everyone’s attention at the expense of the much bigger danger that is the flu. It’s like when a single mass shooting by a white guy with a long arm drowns out the daily handgun carnage involving aspiring rappers that, in total, kill 100x the people per year.

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