Adults hospitalised with COVID-19 are at significantly higher risk of complications and death than those with influenza, despite being younger and having fewer chronic illnesses, according to a study conducted in Spain. The finding, being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Lisbon, Portugal from April 23-26, also suggests that COVID-19 is associated with both longer stays in hospital and intensive care, and costs nearly twice as much to treat.
The researchers from the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, Spain examined medical records of 187 patients — average age 76 years and 55 per cent male — admitted to hospital with seasonal influenza infection between 2017 and 2019. They also analysed records of 187 COVID-19 patients — average age 67 years and 49 per cent male — hospitalised during the first wave of the pandemic between March and May, 2020, who all required oxygen therapy at admission.
In both groups,…
