Covid is still 35% deadlier than flu, study finds
Despite the belief that Covid is no longer a serious virus, the disease is still deadlier than the flu, new research shows.
Patients hospitalized for Covid-19 in the past year were 35 percent more likely to die, compared with those hospitalized for seasonal flu, a study by doctors at the VA St Louis Health Care found System in Missouri.
But the study also acknowledged that rates of serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid have fallen dramatically since the first year of the pandemic, when Covid was five times deadlier than flu.
It comes as the latest Covid variants, nicknamed ‘FLiRT’, are sweeping the country after mutating the virus to evade the human immune system.
Covid had consistently caused a higher percentage of US deaths than influenza by the end of 2023
Deaths from Covid-19 have fallen dramatically over the past two years. The death rate for the week ending May 4, 2024 is just 153, compared to 4,165 for the same week in 2021
The study, published in JAMApointed out that between 2023 and 2024 there were almost twice as many hospital admissions for Covid as for flu.
In the first year of the pandemic, hospitalized patients were almost five times more likely to die than patients with flu.
The researchers used the US Department of Veterans Affairs electronic health databases and included patients diagnosed with Covid or seasonal flu between October 1, 2023 and March 27, 2024.
This resulted in 2,647 patients with flu and 8,625 with Covid.
They followed participants for 30 days, until their death, or until March 31, 2024.
Those with Covid had a 30-day mortality rate of 5.7 percent, compared to those with flu who had a 4.24 percent mortality rate.
Covid can cause several complications of the flu, such as blood clots and long Covid.
Last month, the CDC detected KP.1.1 and KP.2 variants in wastewater sampling, finding the latter made up about a quarter of new Covid cases
The researchers used the US Department of Veterans Affairs electronic health databases and included patients diagnosed with Covid or seasonal flu between October 1, 2023 and March 27, 2024.
The average age of both flu and Covid patients was 74 years, and the vast majority were male.
New Covid variants continue to emerge, including the emergence of JN.1, the most significant variant in the US since late December 2023.
The researchers noted that there was no significant difference in the risk of death among those hospitalized for Covid-19 before and during the JN.1-dominant era, suggesting that JN.1 was no more deadly than the previous .
Last month, the CDC detected KP.1.1 and KP.2 variants in wastewater sampling, finding the latter made up around a quarter of new Covid cases.
But an infectious disease doctor told DailyMail.com that these new mutations, which alter the coronavirus’ ‘spike proteins’, also appear to make the pandemic disease less able to enter and infect human cells.
This mixed blessing has medical professionals warning of an impending Covid wave this summer, which should make these sneakier – but less contagious – variants of the virus more common.
Deaths from Covid-19 have fallen dramatically over the past two years.
The death rate for the week ending May 4, 2024 is just 153, compared to 4,165 for the same week in 2021.