| |
Influenza |
COVID-19 |
| Virus characteristics |
Influenza viruses are negative-sense single-strand RNA viruses with a segmented genome |
Coronaviruses are positive-sense single-stranded, RNA viruses with an unsegmented, genome |
| Incubation period |
1 to 4 days (average 2 days) |
Generally, within 14 days following exposure, with most cases occurring approximately four to five days after exposure |
| Transmission |
Respiratory droplets and contact |
Respiratory droplets and contact |
| Diagnostic tests |
Antigen detection assays reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), multiplex PCR, and rapid molecular assays |
Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) most commonly with RT-PCR assay |
| Chest X-ray |
Bilateral reticular or reticulonodular opacities with or without superimposed consolidation |
Consolidation and ground glass opacities |
| Signs and symptoms |
Fever, headache, myalgia, malaise, cough, sore throat, and nasal discharge. Gastrointestinal illness, such as vomiting and diarrhea, is usually not part of influenza infections in adults but can occur in 10 to 20 percent of influenza infections in children. |
Fever, cough, dyspnea, nasal discharge, myalgias. However, diarrhea and smell or taste disorders, are also common. Other manifestations include conjunctivitis and dermatologic manifestations - maculopapular, urticarial, and vesicular eruptions and transient livedo reticularis |
| Laboratory abnormalities |
Leukocyte counts are normal or low early in the illness but may become elevated later in the illness |
Lymphopenia, elevated aminotransaminase levels, elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels, elevated inflammatory markers (e.g., ferritin, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate), and abnormalities in coagulation tests. |
| Treatment |
FDA-approved antiviral drugs |
Optimal approach to treatment of COVID-19 is uncertain. Preliminary evidence suggests role for antiviral agent - remdesivir and dexamethasone in the management of COVID-19 |
| Vaccine |
FDA-licensed influenza vaccines produced annually |
Currently there is no vaccine to prevent COVID-19, clinical trials available |
| Complications |
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), myositis, rhabdomyolysis, acute myocardial infarction, myocarditis and pericarditis, toxic-shock syndrome, Guillain–Barre syndrome, transverse myelitis, encephalopathy |
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), myocarditis, heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, arrhythmias, cardiogenic shock, thromboembolic complications (pulmonary embolism, acute limb ischemia, mesenteric thrombosis, acute stroke), multisystem inflammatory syndrome and Guillain–Barre syndrome. |
| Bacterial co-infection in intensive care unit (ICU) patients |
More prevalent (19% of cases) |
Less prevalent (14% of cases) |
| Most commonly detected bacterial pathogen |
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes |
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Hemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae |
