Think before comparing coronavirus to the flu.

Think before comparing coronavirus to the flu 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus outlined important differences between the two viruses. “First, COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza, from the data we have so far,” he says. “With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19.”  

The second major difference is that COVID-19 has caused more severe cases of the disease than seasonal flu. COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.

Third, we have vaccines and therapeutics for seasonal flu, but at the moment there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for COVID-19.

So far, the information shows the severity of COVID-19 infection ranges from very mild sometimes with no reported symptoms at all to severe to the point of requiring hospitalization. Common symptoms have included: 

1. Fever 
2. Cough
3. Sore throat in some people
4. Difficulty breathing can be severe enough to cause people to seek hospital care.