So, let\u2019s talk about why COVID-19 and the flu are NOT the same thing\u2026
A couple of weeks ago, in our \u201cAre COVID Cases Rising Again?\u201d episode, we discussed the rise in COVID-19 cases amid the summertime surge.
Unfortunately, while it was well-received, a lot of the comments were very similar to what it was like in 2021 to 2022.
As cases rise again, some people still think that COVID-19 and the flu are the same thing.
But they are NOT, and a lot of numbers show that.
While they are both respiratory diseases with some similarities in transmission and symptoms, COVID-19 is significantly more contagious and deadly than the flu.
In a four-year stretch alone (2020-2024), more people have died from COVID-19 than the amount of people who have died from the flu since it first began (1800s-present).
So, join me in this episode as we discuss the similarities, but more importantly\u2014the differences between the two. Together, let\u2019s stop pressing on any discussion that tries to put COVID-19 in the same bucket as the flu.
Why you need to check this episode:
\u201cIs COVID-19 and the flu the same thing? Absolutely not. Are there some similarities? Yes. There are some similarities with how they\u2019re transmitted; not the rate, but how they\u2019re transmitted. There are some similarities with some of the symptoms you may develop when it first hits you. There are some similarities when we talk about some of the complications that can occur if you get COVID or flu. There are some similarities when we talk about how we prevent it. But after that, the detour occurs. The hospitalizations, the rate of transmissions, deaths, the types of viruses that cause it, some of the complications\u2014the detour is there. Don\u2019t let anyone tell you again that COVID-19 and the flu are the same thing and that we should act as if COVID-19 and the flu are the same thing.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Berry Pierre
Notable Quotes:
\u201cCOVID has always been more transmissible than the flu\u2026This is the reason why you can have a million cases in one week with COVID; whereas on the flu, on a bad year, may average about half a million or a little bit above that for the whole year\u2026You can get a million cases in one week with COVID [but] you\u2019re not getting a million cases in one week with the flu; it just doesn\u2019t happen. And why is that? The rate of transmission is almost 10-100x more in COVID than it is in the flu.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Berry Pierre
\u201cThe rate of deaths associated with COVID is 1% to 2%...[while] the flu can get\u2014with the rate of contagion and everything else from a fatality perspective\u20140.1%... In fact, more people died from COVID in the three to four-year stretch that we started counting COVID than the amount of people who have died since the initiation of the flu.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Berry Pierre
\u201cWhen you hear people say COVID-19 and the flu are the same thing, they are not being truthful or they\u2019re just not knowledgeable. It\u2019s either or.\u201d \u2013 Dr. Berry Pierre
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