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. 2020 Jun 26;9:77. doi: 10.1186/s40249-020-00688-1

Table 1.

Epidemiological features of COVID-19 and other similar viral infections

Disease COVID-19 Flu RSV infection SARS
Viral agent

SARS-CoV-2

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Influenza virus

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RSV

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SARS-CoV

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Transmission Airborne droplet Airborne droplet Airborne droplet Airborne droplet
Infection period N/A fall and winter winter Spring
Basic reproduction number (Ro) 2–2.5 1.7 3.5 2–5
Case fatality rate (CFR) ~ 7.1%a 0.05–0.1% 4.6% 9.6–11%
Incubation time 2–14 daysb 1–4 days 4–5 days 2–7 days
Hospitalization rate 20% 2% 2.1% Most cases
Annual infected (Global) N/A ~ 1 billion 64 million 8098 (2003)

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

RSV Respiratory syncytial virus

aData: Updated by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on May 122 020)

bMedian time (x͂) = 5–6 days