Technology Review<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization has released a\u00a0report<\/a><\/span>\u00a0outlining the differences between the flu and\u00a0coronavirus<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n There are some obvious similarities:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n They both spread by contact.\u00a0<\/strong>Touching a contaminated person or surface and then touching your face is a surefire way to get sick. (It is also possible that Covid-19 can be spread via droplets in the air from an infected person\u2019s cough or sneeze.)<\/p>\n Many of the symptoms are similar:\u00a0<\/strong>They both target the respiratory system, and in varying ways. Both cause fevers, tiredness and coughing. Severe respiratory cases can become pneumonia, which can kill.<\/p>\n This story is part of our\u00a0<\/em>ongoing coverage of the coronavirus\/Covid-19 outbreak.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/em>\u00a0You can also sign up to\u00a0<\/em>our dedicated newsletter<\/a><\/span><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Here are six differences between coronavirus and the flu:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Coronavirus appears to spread more slowly than the flu.\u00a0<\/strong>This is probably the biggest difference between the two. The flu has a shorter\u00a0incubation period<\/em>\u00a0(the time it takes for an infected person to show symptoms) and a shorter\u00a0serial interval<\/em>\u00a0(or the time between successive cases). Coronavirus\u2019s serial interval is around five to six days, while flu\u2019s gap between cases is more like three days, the WHO says. So flu still spreads more quickly.<\/p>\n \u2014 Shedding:\u00a0<\/strong>Viral shedding is what happens when a virus has infected a host, has reproduced, and is now being released into the environment. It is what makes a patient infectious. Some people start shedding the coronavirus within two days of contracting it, and before they show symptoms, although this probably isn\u2019t the main way it is spreading, the WHO says. (However, one\u00a0non-peer-reviewed article<\/a><\/span>\u00a0this week also suggests that coronavirus patients are shedding huge amounts of the virus in these early stages, when they have either no symptoms or just mild ones.) The flu virus typically\u00a0sheds<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the first two days after symptoms start, and this can last for up to a week. But a\u00a0study in the Lancet this week<\/a><\/span>, which looked at patients in China, showed that survivors were still shedding the coronavirus for around 20 days (or until death). One was still shedding at 37 days, while the shortest time detected was eight days. This suggests coronavirus patients remain contagious for much longer than those with flu.<\/p>\n \u2014 Secondary infections.\u00a0<\/strong>As if contracting coronavirus wasn\u2019t bad enough, it leads to about two more secondary infections on average. The flu can sometimes cause a\u00a0secondary infection<\/a><\/span>, usually pneumonia, but it\u2019s rare for a flu patient to get\u00a0two<\/em>\u00a0infections after the flu. The WHO warned that context is key (someone who contracts coronavirus might already have been fighting another condition, for example).<\/p>\n \u2014 Don\u2019t blame snotty kids\u2014adults are passing coronavirus around.<\/strong>\u00a0While kids are the primary culprits for flu transmission, this coronavirus seems to be passed between adults. That also means adults are getting hit hardest\u2014especially those who are older and have underlying medical conditions. Experts are\u00a0baffled<\/a><\/span>\u00a0as to why\u00a0kids seem protected<\/a><\/span>\u00a0from the worst effects of the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post. Some say they might already have some immunity from other versions of the coronavirus that appear in the common cold; another theory is that kids\u2019 immune systems are always on high alert and might simply be faster than adults\u2019 in battling Covid-19.<\/p>\n \u2014 Coronavirus is far deadlier than the flu.\u00a0<\/strong>Thus far, the mortality rate for coronavirus (the number of reported cases divided by the number of deaths) is around 3% to 4%, although it\u2019s likely to be lower because many cases have not yet been reported. The flu\u2019s rate is 0.1%.<\/p>\n \u2014 There is no cure or\u00a0vaccine<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for the coronavirus.<\/strong>\u00a0Not yet, anyway,\u00a0although work is under way<\/a><\/span>. There is, however, a flu vaccine\u2014and everyone should get it, not least because being vaccinated could help lessen the load on overstretched medical services in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n