tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Infect Dis
. 2024 Jul 25;230(1):38-44.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae071. Mortality Rates of the Spanish Flu and Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Netherlands: A Historical Comparison
Peter Harteloh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rob van Mechelen[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been called the deadliest disease event in history. In this study, we compared the cause-specific mortality rate of the Spanish flu (1918-1920) with that of COVID-19 (2020-2022) in the Netherlands. During the periods of exposure, about 50 000 people died of COVID-19 and 32 000 people of the Spanish flu. In absolute numbers, COVID-19 seems to be deadlier than Spanish flu. However, the crude mortality rates for COVID-19 and Spanish flu were 287 and 486 per 100 000 inhabitants, respectively. Comparing age-standardized mortality rates, there would have been 28 COVID-19- and 194 Spanish flu-related deaths in 1918-1920, or 214 Spanish flu- and 98 COVID-19-related deaths in 2020-2022 per 100 000 inhabitants per year. Thus, taking the population differences into account, the Spanish flu would have been deadlier than COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; Spanish flu; cause of death; epidemiology; mortality.
. 2024 Jul 25;230(1):38-44.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae071. Mortality Rates of the Spanish Flu and Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Netherlands: A Historical Comparison
Peter Harteloh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rob van Mechelen[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39052739
- DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiae071
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been called the deadliest disease event in history. In this study, we compared the cause-specific mortality rate of the Spanish flu (1918-1920) with that of COVID-19 (2020-2022) in the Netherlands. During the periods of exposure, about 50 000 people died of COVID-19 and 32 000 people of the Spanish flu. In absolute numbers, COVID-19 seems to be deadlier than Spanish flu. However, the crude mortality rates for COVID-19 and Spanish flu were 287 and 486 per 100 000 inhabitants, respectively. Comparing age-standardized mortality rates, there would have been 28 COVID-19- and 194 Spanish flu-related deaths in 1918-1920, or 214 Spanish flu- and 98 COVID-19-related deaths in 2020-2022 per 100 000 inhabitants per year. Thus, taking the population differences into account, the Spanish flu would have been deadlier than COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; Spanish flu; cause of death; epidemiology; mortality.