Fact check: Are "coughing up the flu" and "coughing up the coronavirus" similar? Fake!

In recent days, people have been asking about "Long Flu". Let me briefly share my personal opinion. ["Long Flu" VS "Long COVID-19"]

The recent hotly debated long flu report actually originated from

A cohort study published online as a priority in The Lancet - Infectious Diseases on December 14, 2023, used the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' healthcare database to analyze data from two populations: ① 81,280 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022; ② 10,985 patients hospitalized for seasonal influenza between October 1, 2015 and February 28, 2019. After 18 months of follow-up of these patients, it was found that: ① The risk of death from COVID-19 infection is higher than that from seasonal influenza (see the figure below, the red line is COVID-19 infection and the blue line is seasonal influenza): Compared with the influenza group, the COVID-19 infection group had 8.62 excess deaths per 100 people;

② More health risks associated with COVID-19 infection: Within 18 months after infection with either COVID-19 or influenza virus, patients in both cohorts had increased health risks of death, re-hospitalization, and multiple organs, with COVID-19 infection associated with 64 health risks and influenza associated with 6 health risks (see figure below);

③ Compared with patients with COVID-19 infection, influenza patients have higher lung health risks in three items (cough, hypoxemia and shortness of breath) than COVID-19 infection (four items in the lower right corner of the figure above), but COVID-19 infection increases the risks of other systems (Figure 3 shows the excess risk, Figure 4 shows the excess ratio, Figure 5 shows the cumulative incidence of different health event risks, Figure 6 shows the cumulative disability-adjusted life years for different health event risks, Figure 7 shows the risk comparison of adverse health outcomes in the acute phase and the late acute phase, and Figure 8 shows the disability-adjusted life years for adverse health outcomes in the acute phase and the late acute phase);

Excess risk

Excess ratio

Cumulative incidence of different health event risks

Cumulative disability-adjusted life years for different health event risks

Comparison of risk of adverse health outcomes in the acute and post-acute phases

Comparison of Disability-Adjusted Life Years of Adverse Health Outcomes in the Acute and Post-Acute Phases

④ Compared with seasonal influenza, the risk of re-admission and ICU admission to patients infected with the new coronavirus is also increased (Figure 2).

In short, according to the data, "long COVID-19" is more serious than "long flu".

How to view "long flu"

This study actually found that "long COVID-19" may cause more health damage than "long flu" after seasonal influenza (note, not the kind like the 1918 influenza pandemic), but both will have long-term effects on patients, and both COVID-19 and influenza cause a large number of deaths every year.

Therefore, reducing the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection through prevention of infection and reinfection (especially among vulnerable groups), vaccination and the use of antiviral drugs should remain a core pillar of public health policy.

In short, whether it is COVID-19 or influenza, although ordinary people cannot completely avoid the risk of infection, they can reduce the possibility of infection through scientific methods and timely and standardized treatment to reduce the risk of infection in high-risk groups. Interestingly, this report has also been interpreted and forwarded by many platforms, some of which have sensational headlines, such as "Long flu is similar to long COVID-19", "Long flu appears", "Long flu cannot be ignored", etc., which has caused the domestic public, who have recently experienced a high incidence of respiratory infectious diseases related to immune gaps, to once again have serious anxiety. But in fact, the term "long flu" and even "long colds" appeared a long time ago, and the latter is more likely to cause coughing or hoarseness than COVID-19 infection.

[Correctly respond to "long..."]

Many people start thinking about protection methods and even various disinfection plans after they become anxious, but in fact, the most effective ways to reduce related risks besides anxiety are still the old-fashioned ones:

1. Get the COVID-19 vaccine and influenza vaccine in a timely manner. Even if you consider the possibility of triggering infection, you should also get the pneumococcal vaccine (the elderly and high-risk groups get the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, and healthy young children get the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. You can choose any brand);

2. Develop good hygiene habits, including keeping your hands clean, ventilating the room, covering your mouth and nose with a handkerchief or elbow when coughing or sneezing, and wearing a mask after confirming infection (the most important role of a mask is to protect others. Of course, individual protection is also effective, but just like rabies vaccines should be given to dogs, you can't put the cart before the horse), etc.;

3. Maintain healthy work and rest habits, balanced nutrition, proper exercise, and do not abuse any equipment, health products, or even certain drugs;

4. Once infected, seek medical treatment promptly (especially for high-risk groups), and take protective measures to avoid infecting others. All of the above methods can not only reduce the risk of COVID-19 and influenza, but are even "basic actions" to reduce the risk of many respiratory infectious diseases. Some of them are "courtesy actions" in public places, and vaccination is also a "lifestyle" for healthy people, but unfortunately many people have forgotten most of them. Of course, some people are forced to give up some of them, such as exercise (an excuse for laziness). What I want to say in the end is: what we need to do is not to make ourselves "absolutely not infected", because it is basically impossible to do so, but what we can do is to use scientific methods to help ourselves reduce the risk of disease while ensuring that it does not affect our lives and is not considered to be abnormal in the brain. It's easier said than done, but it's actually very difficult. I wish

=Pill=

Disclaimer: This article was created out of personal interest, only to help more ordinary people have a clearer understanding of vaccines. The content and views do not represent any organization, unit, or institution, and it has not accepted any form of sponsorship. All pictures are from public online platforms. If the content is incorrect, please do more self-criticism (not).