Too Many Patients Still Think COVID Is ‘No Worse than the Flu.’ New Data Say Otherwise

In spite of millions of deaths and hospitalizations, as well as economic hardships and general inconveniences, there has been a segment of the U.S. population that believes COVID-19 is no more of a threat than seasonal influenza. Now that vaccines have been shown to be effective and COVID is no longer in the headlines every day, it’s possible more people than ever think that. New data published in a research letter published by the Journal of the American Medical Association may be helpful in dissuading them from that notion, however. In short, researchers found that “people hospitalized for COVID-19 had nearly 5 times the risk of 30-day mortality compared with those hospitalized for seasonal influenza.” The data reflect 8,996 hospitalizations for COVID and 2,403 hospitalizations for seasonal flu, drawn from electronic health databases of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs between October 1, 2022 and January 31, 2023.