It’s no worse than the flu 2

29 Apr It’s no worse than the flu 2

Unethical doctors promoting misinformation for financial gains, misleading claims by news organizations  and a pervasive fear in many Americans has lead to the misconception that COVID-19 is no worse than influenza. I pointed out yesterday that COVID-19 is 10 times more fatal than the flu, but there are still many that doubt the severity of this disease. Let’s investigate some other aspects of the disease that make it so lethal.

1. If people didn’t understand the data I presented yesterday, then perhaps a visual presentation will help. From the graph it is evident that the fatality rate of COVID-19 is much greater than influenza.
2. An elevated rate of thrombotic complications is seen in COVID-19 patients. A 31% rate of thrombotic events has been observed in a study from the Netherlands which included both venous and arterial clots. Their series included patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), deep venous thrombosis (DVT), ischemic stroke, heart attack (myocardial infarction), and systemic arterial embolism.
3. Large vessel strokes are seen in the population of adults under 50 years of age. Influenza does have an 40 % associated risk of stroke in the elderly, but not in younger patients.
4. JAMA recently published a study out of China that demonstrated that 36.4 % of patients had neurologic issues.
5. COVID-19 can manifest as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a condition which can lead to pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is a scarring of the lungs and is permanent.
6. Many patients with COVID-19 will be admitted to the ICU and may develop post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). PICS is used to describe patients who have survived a severe critical illness, along with the intensive care required to survive. Patients can have some combination of physical impairment, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric impairment.

I think it is a very weak argument to keep repeating the Fox News mantra, “It’s no worse than the flu” in an attempt to open the country back up. Listen to the medical experts. Examine the data objectively and you might discover that COVID-19 is, in fact, much worse than the flu.