Coronavirus and Influenza:

what differences?

The virus responsible for COVID-19 and that of influenza manifests itself in a similar way.
The World Health Organization tried to outline the differences between the two viruses and
their spread.

We talk about it with Dr. Michele Lagioia, Medical Director of Humanitas.

They can both cause respiratory issues, which can occur in very different ways: patients can
be asymptomatic, have symptoms of a low level, up to a serious pathology and even death.
Influenza and Coronavirus share the transmission method: contact, nasal droplets, material
contaminated by the infected person. The hygiene rules that can offer concrete help in
spreading them are always the same: often wash your hands, avoid touching your face,
sneezing inside the elbow or in a tissue, which must be immediately disposed away.

What are the differences between the two pathologies?

A first immediate difference consists in the transmission speed of the two viruses. The flu
has fewer incubation days (the time between infection and the onset of symptoms) and a
shorter serial interval (the time between subsequent cases), and therefore transmits faster.
If the COVID-19 interval is 5-6 days, the flu interval is 3.
In addition, the flu has a higher rate of infection in the first few days of illness or even in the
pre-symptomatic period. In fact, although the cases of transmission of COVID-19 by
asymptomatic subjects (in a period ranging from 24 to 48 hours) have been documented, at
the moment these subjects did not include the main contagion vehicles from COVID-19.

The number of infections generated by a single case of Coronavirus fluctuates between 2

and 2.5, greater than that of influenza; it is very well underlined that the direct comparisons
between influenza and COVID-19 viruses are very difficult: the estimates related to viruses,
in fact, are strictly related to the context of analysis.
Children, in particular, are an important vehicle for the transmission of influenza: from
preliminary data this does not seem to be the case for Coronavirus, as its impact in the 0-19
age group is much lower than in the other groups.
What unfortunately means is that children should not be contagious: preliminary data from
the studies conducted in China on the subject, however, dealt with that sick children were
infected by adults, and not vice versa.

Another difference between the two viruses, this time more evident, can be found in the
percentages of severe forms. As for COVID-19, the data indicate that the cases are 80% of
low severity or are asymptomatic, 15% are constituted by serious infections, 5% by critical
cases (although in Italy the percentage of severe cases it is unfortunately higher, with a
particularly high lethality rate maybe due to specific factors still to be scientifically
investigated such as air pollution); in comparison, the flu has a lower percentage of critical
cases.

The data available to date indicate that the percentage of mortality (understood as the
ratio between the number of deaths and that of cases) varies between 3 and 4%; the
percentage of mortality from infection (understood as the ratio of reported cases of
death and the number of reported infections) tends to be lower.

As for the risks in relation to the patient's age and his general state, if the flu is more risky
for children, pregnant women, the elderly, immunosuppressed and those who suffer from
chronic diseases, Coronavirus it seems to cause greater harm “only” to the elderly and those
with underlying pathologies.

Finally, it should be noted that the effects of the flu can be limited (if not avoided) by the
vaccine, while we unfortunately do not yet have a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus.

Humanitas News editorial staff