COVID-19 patients at higher risk of death, health problems than those with flu: study

CHICAGO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- New research into federal data by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that among hospitalized patients, COVID-19 was associated with an increased need for ventilators, more admissions into intensive care units (ICUs), longer hospital stays and nearly five times the risk of death than faced by those with the flu.

For the study, the researchers analyzed de-identified medical records in a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and examined information involving 3,641 patients hospitalized in the United States with COVID-19 at some point from Feb. 1 through June 17, as well as 12,676 patients hospitalized with the flu at some point from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2019. The average age of patients with either COVID-19 or the flu was 69.