COVID-19 Prevention Efforts Could Lead to Fewer Flu Deaths

Updated December 30, 2020

Prevention interviewed Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, about how many people actually die from the flu each year. It’s difficult to compare flu deaths with those of COVID-19, which are actual documented deaths, says Hicar. In fact, COVID-19 deaths are being tracked by confirmed cases, “but there are still going to be numbers of unconfirmed cases so the deaths from COVID-19 are probably higher than what is being reported,” Hicar says. The article also appeared on other outlets.