Q&A – Coronavirus vs the flu – which is worse?
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry: Good morning Brian. I have a question about the coronavirus. I don't understand why there's so much panic about that virus? In the United States, the influenza is much worse then what we're seeing reported from China. In the United States we don't shut down McDonald's or Starbucks or Chick-fil-A. For the influenza we are not screening people flying from state to state. Basically, we are told to get a flu shot, wash our hands and use hand sanitizer.
Why do you think there's so much panic with this coronavirus? CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.
Bottom Line: It’s a good point that the bigger threat to all of us right now, in the US, is the flu. To your point, more than 10,000 deaths have occurred annually in the US due to the flu over the past decade and this flu season is estimated to result in the death of between 10,000-25,000 Americans. So, why is the coronavirus treated as a crisis that’s greater than the flu? Does the response equal the threat? Probably.
I’m among the first to call to out hype that doesn’t equal reality but the declared epidemic with the coronavirus isn’t hype. In the United States, 10,000 flu deaths occur for every 19 million cases, for a death rate of 0.0005%. It’s extremely rare for the flu to result in the death of anyone and generally only those most vulnerable are at risk of the flu becoming fatal. That’s not the case with what we know of those who’ve contracted coronavirus to date.
Chinese Health officials released this information over the weekend. 17,205 confirmed cases resulting in the death of 361 people. That’s a death rate of greater than 2%. The death rate for the coronavirus, based on the best information we have available right now, is 39.9 times worse than the flu. Clearly, it’s in a different league. Based on those figures it’d kill about 400,000 Americans if as many contracted it as the flu this year. The other dynamic concerning officials is the lack of a vaccine available to attempt to immunize in advance. There’s essentially no preventative treatment option.
I don’t know where this story ends or when we’ll turn the corner but unlike some threats in recent years that didn’t turn out to be critical in this country...the threat of this one is different. The Trump administration’s response for restricted travel and a task force specifically tasked with combating the threat appears to be warranted and I understand the concern.