The age structure of those most affected does not fit the evidence from previous pandemics. The flu virus mutates rapidly, so people catch different strains, which is why the vaccine isn't 100% effective and new vaccines are needed every year.Because of the newness of the coronavirus, calculations of the disease's death rate come from dividing the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths by the total of confirmed cases. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. “Swine Flu” The US Centre for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) estimated that 150, 000 to 575,000 people died from (H1N1) pandemic virus infection in the first year of the outbreak. See how they compare by age bracket.© Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty ImagesShow full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. The states with the highest age-adjusted death rates from flu and pneumonia in 2017 were Hawaii (29.6 deaths per 100,000 people), Mississippi (22.9) and Tennessee (21.3). A growing Live: NASA astronauts splash down near Florida in a SpaceX Crew DragonGround beef recall 2020: JBS Food Canada recalls more than 38,000 pounds of meat The coronavirus death rate in the US is almost 50 times higher than that of the flu. That also makes COVID-19 more contagious than the seasonal flu.Social distancing limits the risk of infection, however, as does proper hand-washing and avoiding touching your face.
Among children, there was about one death per every 10,000 cases. While about 0.1% of people who got the flu died in the US last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus' death rate is currently about 5.2%, based on the reported totals of cases and deaths. The flu kills .83% of infected people above age 65, whereas the coronavirus's death rate is 10.4% for infected people from age 65 to 74, 20.8% for the 75-84 group, and 30.1% for people over 85. 80% of the virus-related deaths were estimated to occur in those < 65 years of age.

Another explanation involves the age group affected by the disease. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”In  this current  pandemic, the age structure of those most affected reveals a tension between whether COVID-19 is operating more like a seasonal viral effect or is similar  in its effect to previous pandemicsIn a pandemic, the proportion of deaths among the young should increase (See The data support the theory that the current epidemic is a late seasonal effect in the Northern  Hemisphere on the back of a mild ILI season. The numbers in the chart above come from the CDC's most In the US, the coronavirus has infected more than 2.3 million people since the The coronavirus' death rate changes constantly, and many health experts A trend that is unlikely to change with more robust testing, however, is the degree to which the coronavirus is especially deadly for older people and those with An average coronavirus patient infects two to 2.5 others. For those 65 and older, the rate rose to about 83 out of 10,000 people.The flu's death rate varies depending on the strains circulating each year. The horrific scale of the 1918 influenza pandemic—known as the "Spanish flu"—is hard to fathom. These states have had relatively high death rates in other years as well. For adults between 50 and 64 years old, about six out of every 10,000 people who got the flu died. Search Search . (During the current flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there have been 39 million to 56 million flu illnesses and 24,000 to 62,000 flu deaths … The majority of fatalities, from both the war and the epidemic, were among young adults. The number of people killed by influenza each year isn't reported the same way that COVID-19 deaths are — a discrepancy that can cause confusion when comparing the numbers.The CDC estimates the total number of flu infections in the US via its influenza-surveillance system, which gathers data from state and local partners and projects nationwide totals using infectious-disease models.During the 2018-19 flu season, about 35 million people in the US contracted the flu and about 34,000 died, according to the Breaking down the numbers by age range reveals a more complex story. The number of war-related deaths of young adults may have overshadowed the deaths caused by flu. So far this season,105 children have died from the flu, according to data released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.