Flu versus corona virus pandemics

[sashagabadon]

Just something i have been pondering that i can't really find an answer to

We keep getting told that one reason the UK in particular but maybe other European nations too have performed badly is that our pandemic preparedness was based on a flu pandemic and not the pandemic we got, a corona virus one.
But what would be the difference in responses between the two? Surely the response would br broadly similar?

Apparently testing is not required for flu which is why we were slow to recognise testing was so crucial but why would we not need to test for flu?
Anyone know the differences between the two pandemic types?

The differences between the 2 viruses need different strategies
e.g.

. COVID has no vaccine and Coronaviruses had only limited investigation for human vaccines.
The plan for a bad flu pandemic was to tweak existing flu vaccines - which was estimated would take 4-6 months

==> The prep for a flu pandemic was to hold out for 6 months
==> So stocks of PPE, other resources were grossly insufficient for COVID

. COVID has a much higher death rate and a much much higher rate of hospitalisation and ICU,
which can lead to a health system being overwhelmed and unable to handle COVID anything else

==> hence lockdown when it was very new, to "flatten the curve"
and to build up healthcare resources and develop treatments from scratch

. Those infected with COVID are infectious several days before symptoms
. About 10% of those infected with COVID are responsible for 80-90% of the spread, due to differences in how much people shed virus and in what time period

==> hence the need for SD and masks
==> and hence the need for mass testing, track & trace systems

What I don't get and I'm not saying you are wrong, is why have more people died of flu than covid for 8 weeks on the trot? I really don't get it. Covid is meant to be airborne , more contagious and more deadly... Yet more people are dying weekly of something less contagious and less deadly?

I may just be an idiot but I really don't get it?

@Forgone90

What I don't get and I'm not saying you are wrong, is why have more people died of flu than covid for 8 weeks on the trot? I really don't get it. Covid is meant to be airborne , more contagious and more deadly... Yet more people are dying weekly of something less contagious and less deadly?

I may just be an idiot but I really don't get it?

The trouble is we dont know now contagious or deadly covid really is. At the beginning of all this the death rate was touted to be 3-4%. Later on it was suggested to be less than 1%. We have no idea how many people get it asymptomatically (numbers ranging between 20 and 70% have been suggested by various people).

The main issue with covid isnt it being more or less deadly than flu. It's with it being new, so we dont know how to treat it and nobody has had it before so there is no level of immune protection in society. So lots of people would get it in a short space of time and would need treating, whereas with flu the numbers getting it at any time are smaller and easier to cope with.

COVID has a much higher death rate and a much much higher rate of hospitalisation and ICU, which can lead to a health system being overwhelmed and unable to handle COVID anything else

Appeared to have a much higher death rate because only people who were really ill were being tested. Anyone with symptoms was directed to self treat with no testing and no community testing meant low and asymptomatic cases were not picked up at all.

Another reason for the high death rate was the fact the the elderly in care homes were not initially protected at all leading to a huge number of care home deaths. (But even they had more chance of recovering than dying even though the death rate was high)

The main issue with covid isnt it being more or less deadly than flu. It's with it being new, so we dont know how to treat it and nobody has had it before so there is no level of immune protection in society. So lots of people would get it in a short space of time and would need treating, whereas with flu the numbers getting it at any time are smaller and easier to cope with.

It's not true that there is no level of immunity. The immunity is not specific but there is plenty of evidence of T cell immunity in people. A quarter to a third of 'common colds' are caused by a different coronavirus and there is belief that having had one of these enables the immune system to recognise and fight the virus in some people. There is also evidence (although not yet conclusive) that having a good level of vitamin primes the immune system to react quickly.

Young people in general appear to have mild or no symptoms and this may well be due to good immune systems. The more young people get it - and spread it amongst themselves, the more quickly we will move towards herd immunity - which will in the longer term, help protect the more vulnerable.

Still has a higher death rate, or rather case fatality rate.
Flu isn't routinely tested either.

It's new, that's the reason. I've had covid (this year) and flu (last year), I would take covid any day, it lasted about 6 hours and left me without taste or smell for a couple of weeks, whereas flu was debilitating for 3-4 days

Are you ignoring that people do end up in hospital and with lung damage?