Table 1.

A comparison of COVID-19 and influenza in its characteristics, complications and pathogenesis

	COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)	Influenza
Case fatality rate	Around 3–4%	Around 0.1%
Complications	ARDS, RNAaemia, AKI, acute cardiac injury, shock, rarely myocarditis	ARDS, secondary bacterial infection, rarely myocarditis, neuromuscular effects
Pathogenesis of severe disease	Systemic inflammation, cytokine storm (TNFα, IFN, IL-2, IL-7, g-CSF, MCP-1, MIP-1) and multi-organ failure	Systemic inflammation, cytokine storm (TNFα, IFN, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, MIP-1)
Association with myocardial infarction	Maybe, cardiac injury may be caused by MI or other causes	Yes, across many studies and meta-analysis
Vaccination availability	In development (ChiCTR2000030906 and NCT04283461)	Yes
Vaccination association with reduction in MI and cardiovascular death	N/A	Yes, across many studies and meta-analysis