Diseases (Jan 2024)

Comparison of COVID-19 and Influenza-Related Outcomes in the United States during Fall–Winter 2022–2023: A Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study

  • Hagit Kopel,
  • Alina Bogdanov,
  • Jessamine P. Winer-Jones,
  • Christopher Adams,
  • Isabelle H. Winer,
  • Machaon Bonafede,
  • Van Hung Nguyen,
  • James A. Mansi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases12010016
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
p. 16

Abstract

Read online

Influenza and COVID-19 contribute significantly to the infectious disease burden during the respiratory season, but their relative burden remains unknown. This study characterizes the frequency and severity of medically attended COVID-19 and influenza during the peak of the 2022–2023 influenza season in the pediatric, adult, and older adult populations and characterizes the prevalence of underlying conditions among patients hospitalized with COVID-19. This cross-sectional analysis included individuals in the Veradigm EHR Database linked to Komodo claims data with a medical encounter between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023 (study period). Patients with medical encounters were identified with a diagnosis of COVID-19 or influenza during the study period and stratified based on the highest level of care received with that diagnosis. Among 23,526,196 individuals, there were more COVID-19-related medical encounters than influenza-related encounters, overall and by outcome. Hospitalizations with COVID-19 were more common than hospitalizations with influenza overall (incidence ratio = 4.6) and in all age groups. Nearly all adults hospitalized with COVID-19 had at least one underlying medical condition, but 37.1% of 0–5-year-olds and 25.0% of 6–17-year-olds had no underlying medical conditions. COVID-19 was associated greater burden than influenza during the peak of the 2022–2023 influenza season.

Keywords