A new study from Canada found that the risk of death from Covid-19 is three and a half times greater than the threat posed by the flu, while dispelling the myth that the disease tends not to affect young people.
The findings were published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and covered influenza and Covid-19 hospitalizations between November 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 at seven major hospitals in the Toronto and Mississauga areas.
All patients in the study were admitted for general treatment in the hospital or in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Also at rt.com
Canada’s compulsory stays at Covid-19 hotels are not ‘internment camps’, but they are costly forced detentions
The study compared 783 hospitalizations, of 763 patients, for influenza and 1,027 hospitalizations, of 972 patients, for Covid-19.
Most coronavirus patients had few, if any, underlying diseases, and 21 percent of this group were under 50 years of age, dispelling another misconception that Covid-19 mainly affects older people.
“Almost one in three adults under 50 years of age hospitalized with Covid-19 needed intensive care, and almost one in 10 needed an unplanned readmission to the hospital after discharge,” Dr. Amol Verma, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto said.
Those admitted to Covid-19 were more likely to need treatment in the ICU, prolonged use of ventilators and remained hospitalized for longer than patients with influenza.
“Patients admitted to a hospital in Ontario with Covid-19 had a 3.5 times greater risk of death, 1.5 times greater use of the ICU and hospital stay 1.5 times greater than patients hospitalized with influenza” Verma said, taking the opportunity to underline that the pandemic is definitely more lethal than seasonal flu.
Similar findings have been reported in the US and Europe.
Do you think your friends would be interested? Share this story!