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That is just one factor though in which COVID-19 is worse than the seasonal influenza though. COVID-19 has a basic reproduction number of 3.3 – 5.7, while the

That is just one factor though in which COVID-19 is worse than the seasonal influenza though. COVID-19 has a basic reproduction number of 3.3 – 5.7, while the seasonal influenza has one of 0.9 – 2.1 [1], which means that it spreads far more easily. You cannot just wait until summer for influenza season to be over. With influenza you have a higher rate of existing immunity in the population. With COVID-19 it is basically non-existent, except maybe for a few single people that had SARS or MERS before. Younger people are also more affected [2] You are longer sick from COVID-19 and if you have to stay in the hospital you will stay there longer and are more likely to end up on the intensive care unit [2] In the end you cannot compare a pandemic situation to influenza season. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_reproduction_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_reproduction_number [2]: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85081-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85081-0

ed25519FUUU 6y ago
I wasn’t comparing it to anything. I was just writing more of the studies findings.
timr 6y ago
"Younger people are also more affected [2]" The paper you're citing says "younger" means 59, vs 66 for influenza: > Patients with COVID-19 were younger (median age [IQR], 59 [45–71] vs 66 [52–77]; P < 0001) and had fewer comorbidities at baseline with a lower mean overall age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (mean [SD], 3.0 [2.6] vs 4.0 [2.7]; P < 0.001) than patients with seasonal influenza. Also, this is data from a single hospital, across two different years. The overall trends for SARS-CoV2 are not even remotely debatable: the risk of mortality rises exponentially with age. It's one of the most striking features of the virus. To claim, based on this one paper, that "younger people are more affected" is to miss the forest for the trees. "In the end you cannot compare a pandemic situation to influenza season." You absolutely can, and in fact, you're doing it. What you're trying to say is that Covid is somehow unilaterally much worse than influenza, but that isn't true. It's much worse for the elderly (>65), but for most other age groups, it's about the same, if not a little bit better. You have to squint and split hairs and pick sources selectively to start making strong claims of increased severity in age groups under ~50, and it's simply not a believable claim for people under the age of ~30. The disease can be bad without exaggerating its threat.
- legulere 6y ago
  I just took the first study I could find. You seem to claim that it’s conclusions are wrong and that young people are less affected of COVID than influenza. Do you have good studies to back this up?
  - timr 6y ago
    I am telling you that your comment is not supported by the source you cited. You can find a wide range of publications showing the age-specific mortality profile of Covid by Googling. Here is one that is commonly cited: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1

ed25519FUUU 6y ago

I wasn’t comparing it to anything. I was just writing more of the studies findings.

timr 6y ago

"Younger people are also more affected [2]" The paper you're citing says "younger" means 59, vs 66 for influenza: > Patients with COVID-19 were younger (median age [IQR], 59 [45–71] vs 66 [52–77]; P < 0001) and had fewer comorbidities at baseline with a lower mean overall age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (mean [SD], 3.0 [2.6] vs 4.0 [2.7]; P < 0.001) than patients with seasonal influenza. Also, this is data from a single hospital, across two different years. The overall trends for SARS-CoV2 are not even remotely debatable: the risk of mortality rises exponentially with age. It's one of the most striking features of the virus. To claim, based on this one paper, that "younger people are more affected" is to miss the forest for the trees. "In the end you cannot compare a pandemic situation to influenza season." You absolutely can, and in fact, you're doing it. What you're trying to say is that Covid is somehow unilaterally much worse than influenza, but that isn't true. It's much worse for the elderly (>65), but for most other age groups, it's about the same, if not a little bit better. You have to squint and split hairs and pick sources selectively to start making strong claims of increased severity in age groups under ~50, and it's simply not a believable claim for people under the age of ~30. The disease can be bad without exaggerating its threat.

legulere 6y ago
I just took the first study I could find. You seem to claim that it’s conclusions are wrong and that young people are less affected of COVID than influenza. Do you have good studies to back this up?
- timr 6y ago
  I am telling you that your comment is not supported by the source you cited. You can find a wide range of publications showing the age-specific mortality profile of Covid by Googling. Here is one that is commonly cited: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1