In the United States, another virus should terrify much more than China: influenza

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Should we get a flu shot? 1:01

(CNN Spanish) - There is a deadly virus that spreads from state to state. It takes advantage of the most vulnerable, attacking the sick and the elderly without mercy. In recent months, at least 39 children have claimed their lives.

It is the influenza virus, which causes the flu, and that poses a much greater threat to Americans than the Chinese coronavirus outbreak that is making headlines worldwide.

"When we think about the relative danger of this new coronavirus and influenza, there is simply no comparison," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and health policy at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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Of course, the outbreak of coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, must be taken seriously. This virus can cause pneumonia and more than 14,000 cases with 304 deaths are already attributed globally.

Officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) already register 8 cases in the United States. Public health workers are monitoring patients in 22 states.

Influenza rarely receives this type of care, although it kills more Americans every year than any other virus, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The flu has already made at least 15 million Americans sick this winter, with 120,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths, according to the CDC. And the flu season has not even peaked. In a bad year, the flu can kill 61,000 people.

Globally, influenza causes about 5 million cases of serious illnesses every year, and kills 650,000 people in that period, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

And yet, Americans are not particularly worried.

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According to the CDC, less than half of adults were vaccinated against the flu last season. Even among children, who may be especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases, only 62% received the vaccine.

If people are not afraid of the flu, it may be because they are used to annual warnings. For them, influenza is old news. However, viruses that bear names from distant places, such as Ebola, Zika and Wuhan, inspire terror.

"Familiarity generates indifference," Schaffner said. However, "because it is new, it is mysterious and comes from an exotic place, the coronavirus creates anxiety."

Some doctors joke that the flu should be renamed. "We should call it the XZ-47 virus, or something more frightening," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Center for Vaccine Education at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, measles has killed 2,000 people in the past year, more than double that of Ebola. However, UNICEF officials say this crisis has received little attention. Almost all measles victims were under 5 years old.

Some people may worry less about the flu because there is a vaccine, whose protection has ranged from 19% to 60% in recent years. Simply having the option of receiving it or not can give people an illusion of control, Schaffner said.

But people often feel helpless to fight new viruses. The fact that a passenger on an airplane transmitted SARS to other passengers and the crew made people feel especially vulnerable.

Because the Wuhan virus is new, humans have no antibodies to protect them. Doctors have not had time to develop treatments or vaccines.

The big question, hitherto unknown, is how easily the virus is transmitted from an infected person to others. The week of January 20, WHO chose not to declare the Wuhan outbreak as an international health emergency. But they warn that the outbreak has not reached its peak. Each patient with the new coronavirus seems to be infecting at least two other people.

In comparison, patients with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) spread the infection to an average of two to four people. Each measles patient, one of the most contagious viruses known to science, infects 12 to 18 unvaccinated people.

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Health authorities fear that the new coronavirus may resemble SARS, which suddenly appeared in China in 2002 and spread to 26 countries, making 8,000 people sick and killing 774, according to the WHO.

The United States was lucky, Schaffner said. Only eight Americans were infected and none died, according to the CDC. However, the SARS caused a global panic, which led people to cancel hotel reservations, flights and close deals.

Coronaviruses can be unpredictable, explained Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. While some patients never infect anyone else, people who are "super disseminators" can transmit it to dozens.

At the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, in 2015, a single patient in the emergency room infected 82 people, including patients, visitors and health personnel, with a coronavirus called MERS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Part of the hospital closed to control the virus.

However, the MERS has never posed a great threat to the United States. According to the CDC, only two patients in the country, health professionals who had worked in Saudi Arabia, tested positive for the virus. Both survived.

Hotez, who is working to develop vaccines against neglected diseases, said he is worried about unvaccinated children. Most of those who die from the flu were not vaccinated, he said. And many were healthy. "If you're worried about your health, get a flu shot," said Hotez. "It's not too late".

This information was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation not related to Kaiser Permanente.

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