6 Main Differences Between Flu and Coronavirus
They both
spread by contact - Touching
a contaminated person or surface and then touching your face is a surefire way
to get sick. (It is also possible that Covid-19 can be spread via droplets in
the air from an infected person’s cough or sneeze.)
Many of the symptoms are similar - they both target the respiratory system,
and in varying ways. Both cause fevers, tiredness, and coughing. Severe
respiratory cases can become pneumonia, which can kill.
Here are
six differences between coronavirus and the flu:
1. Coronavirus appears to
spread more slowly than the flu.
This is probably the biggest difference between the two. The flu
has a shorter incubation
period (the time it takes for an infected person to show
symptoms) and a shorter serial
interval (or the time between successive cases). Coronavirus’s
serial interval is around five to six days, while the flu’s gap between cases is
more like three days, the WHO says. So flu still spreads more quickly.
2. Shedding
Viral shedding is what happens when a virus has infected a host,
has reproduced, and is now being released into the environment. It is what
makes a patient infectious. Some people start shedding the coronavirus within
two days of contracting it, and before they show symptoms, although this
probably isn’t the main way it is spreading, the WHO says. (However, one non-peer-reviewed article this week also suggests
that coronavirus patients are shedding huge amounts of the virus in these early
stages when they have either no symptoms or just mild ones.) The flu virus
typically sheds in the first two
days after symptoms start, and this can last for up to a week. But a study in The Lancet this week, which looked at
patients in China, showed that survivors were still shedding the coronavirus
for around 20 days (or until death). One was still shedding at 37 days, while
the shortest time detected was eight days. This suggests coronavirus patients
remain contagious for much longer than those with flu.
3. Secondary
infections.
As if
contracting coronavirus wasn’t bad enough, it leads to about two more secondary
infections on average. The flu can sometimes cause a secondary infection, usually pneumonia, but it’s
rare for a flu patient to get two infections
after the flu. The WHO warned that context is key (someone who contracts
coronavirus might already have been fighting another condition, for example).
4. Don’t blame snotty
kids—adults are passing coronavirus around.
While kids are the primary culprits for flu transmission,
this coronavirus seems to be passed between adults. That also means adults are
getting hit hardest—especially those who are older and have underlying medical
conditions. Experts are baffled as
to why kids seem protected from the
worst effects of the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post. Some say
they might already have some immunity from other versions of the coronavirus
that appear in the common cold; another theory is that kids’ immune systems are
always on high alert and might simply be faster than adults’ in battling
Covid-19.
5. Coronavirus is far
deadlier than the flu.
Thus far,
the mortality rate for coronavirus (the number of reported cases divided by the
number of deaths) is around 3% to 4%, although it’s likely to be lower because
many cases have not yet been reported. The flu rate is 0.1%.
6. There is no cure or vaccine for the coronavirus.
Not yet, anyway, although
work is underway. There is, however, a flu vaccine—and everyone should
get it, not least because being vaccinated could help lessen the load on
overstretched medical services in the coming weeks.
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