The fourth corona wave causes intensive care units to fill up.
But even the flu can be dangerous.
The current numbers in comparison.
Covid-19 and the flu are both infectious diseases caused by viruses. Influenza viruses can cause severe flu, coronaviruses can cause dangerous Covid-19.
The latter pathogen, also called Sars-CoV-2, has been spreading worldwide since the end of 2019.
Influenza viruses, on the other hand, have been known for many decades and were responsible, among other things, for the Spanish and Russian flu, which killed millions of people.
Since influenza viruses can spread better in the cold months, there are more infections, especially in winter. How severe the flu epidemic is depends on various factors. For example, which influenza viruses are in circulation. The 2020/2021 flu season was canceled, so to speak. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as the leading biomedical research institute of the German federal government writes in its monthly influenza report from September 2021: "
In the 2020/21 season, neither in Germany nor in the other European countries did an influenza wave that could be measured at population level develop
". Doctors attribute this primarily to corona-related infection protection measures such as mask compulsory or contact restrictions.
But the last serious flu wave was not far back: in 2017/2018 around 25,100 people in Germany were killed by virus flu.
This is the highest number of deaths in the past 30 years
, as the Ärzteblatt Lothar Wieler, President of the RKI, quotes.
Over seven million people visited a doctor in 2017/2018 because of a viral flu.
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Corona and flu current: Incidences and deaths in comparison
In the current comparison, far more corona patients have to be treated as inpatients than flu patients.
The current figures at a glance:
Corona in Germany
7-day incidence (Corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 7 days):
332,493
(as of 11/23/21)
Corona deaths since
February 25, 2020
:
99,433 Covid deaths
(as of November 23, 21)
Source: RKI
Flu cases in Germany
In the current weekly influenza report of the Robert Koch Institute it says: "Influenza viruses are still only detected very sporadically, the viruses that were previously subtyped were influenza A (H3N2) viruses *".
(As of 11/23/21)
The RKI further informs: "According to the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), 38 influenza cases confirmed by laboratory diagnostics have been transmitted to the Robert Koch Institute for the 45th reporting week 2021".
(As of: November 16, 2021)
This results in a flu incidence of rounded up to 0.05 (as of November 16, 2021).
According to the RKI, however, this low incidence will probably have to be corrected upwards in the coming months.
In recent years, the annual flu wave usually started in January and lasted three to four months, according to the information from the RKI.
The number of flu deaths in 2020/2021 has not yet been published by the RKI.
However, the 2018/19 figures can be viewed.
As a result, 954 laboratory-confirmed deaths from influenza were reported to the RKI in the 2018/2019 flu season.
Sources: https://influenza.rki.de/Saisonberichte/2018.pdf
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