Differences in clinical characteristics and outcomes between COVID-19 and influenza in critically ill adult patients: A national database study
Summary
Objective
Prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, influenza was the most frequent cause of viral respiratory pneumonia requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Few studies have compared the characteristics and outcomes of critically ill patients with COVID-19 and influenza.
Methods
This was a French nationwide study comparing COVID-19 (March 1, 2020–June 30, 2021) and influenza patients (January 1, 2014–December 31, 2019) admitted to an ICU during pre-vaccination era. Primary outcome was in-hospital death. Secondary outcome was need for mechanical ventilation.
COVID ain’t over.
It’s still plenty lethal.
And IIUC, it’s not necessarily evolving to a “milder” form over time.
Evolving to milder illness is wishful thinking. Smallpox, polio, measles, etc. never did. What they do is seek vulnerable prey, which means generally becoming diseases of the very young and very old. Especially in diseases with relatively low mortality rates this is the case. Coronaviruses as a family seem to have a trick for not leaving durable immunity very well, and mutating rapidly, so it may become more influenza-like, but will still hit the very old and very young the hardest. MIS-C is very much still a thing, although much less common with increasing levels of immunity. Of course it may also just do it’s own thing. It’s really good at that. But milder? No. I do not expect that at all.
Earlier this week, I was in a doctor’s office with a very crowded waiting room. I was the only one wearing a mask and two people kept coughing. None of the nurses or doctors were masked, which was new (and disturbing).
Watched Stephen Colbert last night talking about recovering from his third case of COVID. Meanwhile, I’m looking for nasal filters to use in case eating at a restaurant can’t be done outside or on a balcony. They’re not ideal, but better than nothing.
I observed the most masks on a plane in well over a year this week between San Francisco and Portland. At least a third of passengers both ways wore masks!
None of the nurses or doctors were masked, which was new (and disturbing).
