Comparison of Clinical Features and Outcomes of Medically Attended COVID-19 and Influenza Patients in a Defined Population in the 2020 Respiratory Virus Season

Abstract

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), which is causing the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, poses a global health threat. However, it is easy to confuse COVID-19 with seasonal influenza in preliminary clinical diagnosis. In this study, the differences between influenza and COVID-19 in epidemiological features, clinical manifestations, comorbidities and pathogen biology were comprehensively compared and analyzed. SARS-CoV-2 causes a higher proportion of pneumonia (90.67 vs. 17.07%) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (12.00 vs. 0%) than influenza A virus. The proportion of leukopenia for influenza patients was 31.71% compared with 12.00% for COVID-19 patients (P = 0.0096). The creatinine and creatine kinase were significantly elevated when there were COVID-19 patients. The basic reproductive number (R0) for SARS-CoV-2 is 2.38 compared with 1.28 for seasonal influenza A virus. The mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 ranges from 1.12 × 10−3 to 6.25 × 10−3, while seasonal influenza virus has a lower evolutionary rate (0.60-2.00 × 10−6). Overall, this study compared the clinical features and outcomes of medically attended COVID-19 and influenza patients. In addition, the S477N and N439K mutations on spike may affect the affinity with receptor ACE2. This study will contribute to COVID-19 control and epidemic surveillance in the future.