from STUDY SHOWS COVID-19 BODY COUNT 20 TIMES HIGHER THAN SEASONAL FLU DEATHS

MAY 20, 2020

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"This apparent equivalence of deaths from COVID-19 and seasonal influenza does not match frontline clinical conditions, especially in some hot zones of the pandemic where ventilators have been in short supply and many hospitals have been stretched beyond their limits."

The researchers said the confusion about lethality comparisons may be owing to "a knowledge gap" in how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on seasonal influenza and COVID-19.

The CDC, they note "like many similar disease control agencies around the world, presents seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality not as raw counts but as calculated estimates based on submitted International Classification of Diseases codes."

Thus, between 2013 and 2019, the yearly seasonal influenza deaths ranged from 23,000 to 61,000. However, the actual number of counted influenza deaths over that timespan ranged between 3,448 and 15,620 deaths each year. On average, the researchers said, CDC influenza death estimates are about six times greater than the number of counted deaths.

Conversely, COVID-19 deaths are not estimated, but counted and reported directly. The researchers suggested that a more valid measure would be to compare weekly counts of COVID-19 deaths to weekly counts of seasonal influenza deaths.


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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2020 04:26PM by zn.