This is a followup to a previous post. Don't read if you can't be bothered.
Recently I posted a comparative analysis of coronavirus and influenza in the US over the last flu season to now. As a response, someone noted (in bad faith, because they weren't very subtle about wanting to hold onto their erroneous belief on the issue) that there were "650,000 deaths and 1 billion infections" of influenza, which isn't specific to the US but worldwide. It's been bothering me ever since that I didn't also do comparisons between the two viruses/infections at the global scale, so that's what this post is about.
So, to the data
Influenza (global 2019 season)
Cases: 1 billion
Deaths: 650,000
Mortality rate: 0.065%
COVID-19 (global reported incidence, 2019-2020)
Cases: 22.5 million
Deaths: 790,000
Mortality rate: 3.51%
Now, that doesn't seem like a lot, and you'd be right in terms of raw numbers. But that's where context comes in. Covid-19 has not been around (globally, at least) for an entire year, and those numbers are with the sometimes extreme-seeming public health measures such as lockdowns. Influenza, by contrast, has a vaccine which while helpful doesn't necessarily protect against a virus that mutates as quickly as the flu does, and beyond that often has few more public health measures than covering one's nose and mouth while coughing.
Additionally, if the flu were as deadly as COVID-19, that billion cases would have an estimated death toll of 35 million.
I know that nobody will be convinced by this, because those who could be swayed already have been and those who are dug in against it will decry it as a hoax or an election ploy or some such conspiracy theory.
Anyway, hopefully someone other than me found this helpful or interesting or something.
So, to the data
Influenza (global 2019 season)
Cases: 1 billion
Deaths: 650,000
Mortality rate: 0.065%
COVID-19 (global reported incidence, 2019-2020)
Cases: 22.5 million
Deaths: 790,000
Mortality rate: 3.51%
Now, that doesn't seem like a lot, and you'd be right in terms of raw numbers. But that's where context comes in. Covid-19 has not been around (globally, at least) for an entire year, and those numbers are with the sometimes extreme-seeming public health measures such as lockdowns. Influenza, by contrast, has a vaccine which while helpful doesn't necessarily protect against a virus that mutates as quickly as the flu does, and beyond that often has few more public health measures than covering one's nose and mouth while coughing.
Additionally, if the flu were as deadly as COVID-19, that billion cases would have an estimated death toll of 35 million.
I know that nobody will be convinced by this, because those who could be swayed already have been and those who are dug in against it will decry it as a hoax or an election ploy or some such conspiracy theory.
Anyway, hopefully someone other than me found this helpful or interesting or something.
