(Image: courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., United States.) / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)
(Image: courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., United States.) / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)

COVID-19 looks to be just as deadly as the 1918 Spanish flu

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The deaths linked to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York are on par with the peak death rate seen during the 1918 Influenza pandemic, say US researchers. During the peak of the 1918 H1N1 influenza outbreak in New York City there were around 287.17 deaths per 100 000 person-months, compared to 202.08 deaths per 100 000 person-months during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However the 1918 flu pandemic was also starting from a higher baseline and prior the this current pandemic our starting death rate was much lower - thanks in part to modern medicine  - which means the relative increase in the deaths is actually much greater for the COVID-19 pandemic than during the peak of the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open

Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.17527

Organisation/s: Harvard Medical School, USA

Funder: Dr Lin reported working under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr del Rio reported receiving grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

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