A study conducted by the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the University of Dijon, compared data from more than 89,500 Covid-19 hospitalized patients between March and April and over 45,800 hospitalized patients for seasonal flu between December 2018 and February 28, 2019.
The results of the study were published Friday in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The report showed that the mortality rate is three times higher for Covid-19 compared to seasonal flu, at 16.9% and 5.8%, respectively.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations were twice as frequent for Covid-19 than for seasonal flu with a larger number of Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care - 16.8% vs. 10.8%. ICU stays were also longer for Covid-19 patients with an average of 15 days compared with 8 days for seasonal flu.
But the researchers noted that the change in hospitalization levels may be partly due to existing immunity to the flu, or due to a previous infection or due to vaccination.
Catherine Quantin, a professor at Dijon University and a researcher for INSERM, noted that "this study is the largest to date comparing the two diseases and confirms that Covid-19 disease is much more serious than the flu."
"The report that the death rate from Covid-19 was three times higher than for seasonal flu is particularly surprising given that the 2018/2019 flu season was the worst in France in terms of deaths in the last five years," he said. she added.
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Source: Euronews
