COVID-19 likely more severe and more deadly than flu or RSV

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-01-28 03:00

International

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US researchers say COVID-19 is likely to be more severe and more deadly than flu or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). They looked at health records of more than 141,000 US veterans who were tested for COVID-19, flu and RSV and diagnosed with a single infection between August 2022 and March 2023 or between August 2023 and March 2024. Analysing the data, they found COVID-19 was linked with more severe disease outcomes, including long-term mortality, compared with flu or RSV. The differences were most pronounced during the 2022 to 2023 season, they say, but COVID-19 remained the most severe and deadly infection in 2023 to 2024.

Media release

From: JAMA

Severity and Long-Term Mortality of COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV

About The Study: This cohort study showed that, during the 2022 to 2023 season, infection with SARS-CoV-2 was associated with more severe disease outcomes than influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whereas differences were less pronounced during the 2023 to 2024 season. During both seasons, RSV remained a milder illness, whereas COVID-19 was associated with higher long-term mortality. Vaccination attenuated differences in disease severity and long-term mortality.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Internal Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, USA

Funder: This study was supported by the US Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program (CSP) and funded in part by the Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (interagency agreement No. AAI21050), and US Food and Drug Administration (interagency agreement No. 75F40121S30013).

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