{"id":8084,"date":"2020-04-06T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=8084"},"modified":"2020-05-01T14:56:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T18:56:33","slug":"coronavirus-vs-the-flu-how-do-they-compare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8084","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus vs. the Flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although there are still many unknowns about COVID-19, there is some solid information from researchers that sheds light on some of the similarities and differences at this time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Infographic<\/p>\n

COVID vs. The Flu: How They Each Make You Feel<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, fatigue and shortness of breath. But these symptoms can also stem from the basic influenza virus as well (normally just called, the flu). A small percentage of those infected will respond with aches and pains, or sniffles. <\/span>If you have any of these symptoms and especially if you have been near an area with confirmed COVID-19 cases, please contact your doctor right away.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

COVID vs. The Flu: How They Each Spread<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

COVID-19 and the flu can be passed to another person either through the air, as when you sneeze and droplets are expelled from your nose and mouth. But they can also live on certain surfaces like a handrail, tabletop or even a cell phone that has not been disinfected. <\/span><\/p>\n

One difference between the two is that (according to initial data) COVID-19 spreads to others faster than flu, with an infected person passing it on to an average of 2.5 additional persons. This is compared with a \u201cspread-rate\u201d of 1.3 persons per each infected individual. <\/span><\/p>\n

The reason for this increased spread-rate may be because it can spread even before you have symptoms. If you are infected but have no symptoms, a person might be less careful about hygiene, distancing, self-quarantining precautions, etc. On the other hand, the flu is most likely to spread only after three days of symptoms. By that time, they person with the flu knows they have it and can take precautions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

COVID vs. The Flu: <\/span><\/strong>How Severe Are Each of Them<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In Quality:<\/u><\/p>\n

Current estimates show that coronavirus is about 10 times more severe than a standard flu. Data from China show that 20% of COVID-19 patients are serious enough to get sent to the hospital. Contrast that with data from the CDC showing that about 2% of flu sufferers are bad enough to have to go to the hospital. <\/span>Also, if you do get hospitalized, the recovery time there is just about twice as long as for the standard influenza.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Quantity: <\/span><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

The percentage of the population that get the flu every year is just over 8% of the population. Another 12% have the flu, but no symptoms. <\/span>By contrast, recent research from Harvard and the University of Hong Kong predicted that up to half the population of the world could be infected. Of course, this assumes that no vaccine is developed and social distancing controls are not carried out at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How Deadly Are They:<\/span><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

In the US population, getting sick from the flu will result in 1 death for every thousand people (0.1%). At this moment, COVID-19 is 10 times more deadly, resulting in the deaths of 10 people per thousand. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many contingencies, of course: age, gender, pre-existing chronic conditions, etc., which all affect the death rate. Plus, the situation is very fluid at this very early stage of the pandemic. Once more is known, that number (10X more deadly) may change a bit. Suffice it to say, however, that this virus is far more lethal than a regular seasonal flu. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although there are still many unknowns about COVID-19, there is some solid information from researchers that sheds light on some of the similarities and differences at this time. COVID vs. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid-Home-Quarantine-Infographic.jpg?fit=1455%2C2061&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-26o","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9536,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=9536","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":0},"title":"So … Covid and “The Flu” … What’s the Difference?","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"COVID and the Flu are very similar. They are both contagious respiratory conditions, and when you get them your symptoms are very similar. Despite this, there are important differences too. First of all, COVID seems to spread more easily than the flu, making it much more contagious. And, this was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Influenza-opposite-COVID-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Influenza-opposite-COVID-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Influenza-opposite-COVID-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C375&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Influenza-opposite-COVID-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C375&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Influenza-opposite-COVID-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C375&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2584,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2584","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":1},"title":"Swine Flu Lessons","author":"Will Clower","date":"May 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Swine flu. Yes, definitely heard of it. But, what is it, really? Should I be worried, really?Dr. Charles Ericsson gives this primer -- everything you needed to know -- about the swine flu outbreak.It turns out that we have come a long way since the last incident. In 1918, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2509,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2509","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":2},"title":"Swine Flu","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Get ready because the Swine Flu pandemic is going to hit hard this year in the US. There is a great deal of concern and misinformation about this new virus, and we should take care to know the facts.The US Government has a wonderful summary website with tons and tons\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2191,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2191","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":3},"title":"VIDEO: Get Your Fad Diet Flu Shot","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year it's the same!! The newest, new REVOLUTIONARY approach, from some new diet guru invites us to magically shed pounds with their wicked-cool fad diet.\u00a0\u00a0(please share this video with anyone who is thinking about dieting!)But how do you take your fad diet flu shot? How do you\u00a0inoculate\u00a0yourself against the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11333,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=11333","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":4},"title":"Mindful Monday on Covid","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it finally happened. Like so many of us, I got Covid too and now feel terrible: full-on snot squid, body aches, congestion and yep, my wife's got it too!\u00a0 Sickness and flu at home So for this Mindful Monday, my message is to focus on the things you can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid"","block_context":{"text":"Covid","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=563"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/At-home-sick-with-flu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/At-home-sick-with-flu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/At-home-sick-with-flu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/At-home-sick-with-flu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/At-home-sick-with-flu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8987,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8987","url_meta":{"origin":8084,"position":5},"title":"What About Covid Vaccines?","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We hear a lot about the vaccine for COVID-19, and researchers race to create it. 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