- Here's how the mortality rates compare.
- For the latest case total and death toll, see Business Insider's live updates here .
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The flu and the new coronavirus have similar symptoms, but the coronavirus is far more deadly — here's how the two compare
The flu and the new coronavirus have similar symptoms, but the coronavirus is far more fatal.
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The coronavirus outbreak came in the middle of flu season in the northern hemisphere.
Because people who get the flu and COVID-19 the disease caused by the coronavirus experience some overlapping symptoms, many people are highlighting those similarities. Even President Donald Trump asked pharmaceutical execs if the flu vaccine could be used to stop the coronavirus.
But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), warned against taking such comparisons too far.
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"This virus is not SARS, it's not MERS, and it's not influenza," Ghebreyesus said in a press conference on Tuesday. "It is a unique virus with unique characteristics."
The most crucial difference between the flu and the coronavirus is that the latter is far more deadly. Whereas approximately 0.1% of people who get the flu die, the coronavirus' mortality rate is about 3.4%, the WHO confirmed on Tuesday.
How the mortality rates of flu and coronavirus compare
The novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, in December and has since killed over 3,110 people and infected nearly 93,000. It is spread to at least 76 other countries. The US has confirmed more than 120 cases and nine deaths.
Older people are far more likely to die from the coronavirus than younger patients, and the same is true for flu though not to the same extent.
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Here's how the mortality rates of the two compare, age bracket by age bracket:
covid 19 mortality rate by age chart
Ruobing Su/Business Insider
The flu kills thousands of people every year, but its mortality rate is low
Last year, 35,520,882 patients contracted the flu and 34,158 died in total. In the US this flu season, an estimated 32 million people have gotten the flu, with 310,000 hospitalizations and 18,000 deaths so far.
The numbers in the chart above come from last year's data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency estimates the number of flu infections in the US via its influenza surveillance system, which gathers flu data from state and local partners, then projects nationwide totals using infectious-disease models.
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During the 2018-2019 season, about one out of every 1,000 people who got the flu died.
However, breaking down the numbers by age range reveals a deeper story. Among children, there is approximately one death in every 10,000 cases. In adults between 50 and 64, about six out of every 10,000 people who get the flu die. For seniors above 65, the rate rises to approximately 83 out of 1,000.
While the flu's mortality rate is always low, it varies seasonally depending on the strains circulating each year. Flu also mutates rapidly, so people can get infected by different strains, which is why the vaccine isn't 100% effective.
About 15% of coronavirus patients over age 80 die
The coronavirus is more fatal than the flu across all age ranges, but especially among older people, according to research from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It also more seriously affectspeople with preexisting health problems.
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Among people 10 through 40 who get the coronavirus, about four out of 1,000 patients die, according to the Chinese CDC. But 8% of people between 70 and 79 die, and the rate rises to 15% among for those 80 and over.
Here's how the coronavirus compares to a handful of other major outbreaks
- Read more:
- A mall in Texas closed due to coronavirus concerns, and it reveals how shopping centers could be jolted by a wider outbreak
- Public health legend Anthony Fauci says working with the White House during an outbreak can be difficult because politicians can cause complacency in their attempts to 'calm people down'
- The US has reported 9 coronavirus deaths among more than 120 cases. Here's what we know about the US patients.
- Walmart, McDonald's, Home Depot, and 8 other retailers share how the coronavirus outbreak could affect business
NOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths
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See Also:
- Coronavirus live updates: More than 93,000 people have been infected and more than 3,100 have died. The US has reported 9 deaths. Here's everything we know.
- The US is sprinting to develop a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Here's how 7 top drugmakers are racing to tackle an outbreak that's spreading around the world.
- Trump asked pharmaceutical execs if the flu vaccine could be used to stop the coronavirus. Here's why that wouldn't work.
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