Seasonal flu is on the decline, according to data from the Weekly Bulletin released on Wednesday. The “peak” was reached the previous week and the decline has started. But, discreetly, it has important consequences on the population. “Since the start of the epidemic on November 4, 2019, 654 serious cases of influenza have been reported. 55 people died, including 9 children under 15, 24 between 15 and 64, and 22 people over 65, ”announces Public Health France.
Last week, 7,095 people went to the emergency room for influenza-like illness, compared to 8,888 the previous week, or very large numbers of patients, specifies Public Health France. In this context, here are the differences and the similarities between the flu and the coronavirus.
The most contagious coronavirus
“Studies show that a person who has the coronavirus contaminates between 2 and 3, or even more than 3. A person with flu will contaminate on average 1.3 other people”, explains doctor Sybille Bernard-Stoecklin, expert at Public Health France . For “Covid-19 19”, another name for the coronavirus, there is also a phenomenon of “super spreader”, or “major contaminant”, which designates a person who contaminates many others. This phenomenon is not documented for influenza.
The more lethal coronavirus
The coronavirus case fatality rate is slightly higher than that of the flu. “The first studies estimated that the fatality rate of the coronavirus, called Covid-19 19, was between 2 and 3%. However, these figures have since been revised downwards. Epidemiological models estimate that its fatality rate is around 1%, or even less, ”says Dr. Sybille Bernard-Stoecklin.
“For the seasonal flu, the fatality rate is estimated to be less than 0.5%,” she adds. In total, in France, the number of deaths attributed to influenza is 9,900 in 2018-2019. For the moment, worldwide, the number of deaths from the Covid-19 19 is 2850, mainly in China. It is impossible as it is to make a comparison over an entire year, since the Covid-19 did not start until December in China. But “let’s not forget that we have around 60,000 seasonal flu deaths every year in Europe,” WHO Director for Europe Hans Kluge said on Wednesday after a meeting on the epidemic. coronavirus in Rome.
The most dangerous flu for children
Regarding those most severely affected, there are differences. “What is reassuring with the Covid-19 is that children are spared from severe forms. And there are few serious cases among young people under the age of 20. On the other hand, the flu sometimes causes significant complications in children under 1 year old, ”adds Dr. Sybille Bernard-Stoecklin.
The two pathologies have in common that they hit the elderly, over the age of 80, who have other underlying illnesses. ” The coronavirus has, however, a peculiarity, which the flu does not have at all: “Studies report severe cases on people over 50 years, with the coronavirus, which is very rare for the flu” adds Dr. Sybille Bernard Stoecklin.
The same barrier symptoms and gestures
Flu and Covid-19 cause the same symptoms: cough, temperature, and possibly difficulty breathing. The “barrier gestures”, to protect yourself against them, are also similar: wash your hands frequently, cough in your elbow, and possibly wear a mask. “Both are transmitted through the respiratory tract as a cough. You breathe the microdroplets of an infected person, and that is how you become infected, ”adds Dr. Sybille Bernard-Stoecklin. But as much as the flu is known, for decades, the Covid-19 is new, and this is what raises so many questions from the scientific community.
VIDEO. Coronavirus: advice from 2 doctors to protect yourself well
