In 2021 and 2022, the proportion of hospitalized COVID-19 and influenza patients admitted to a US intensive care unit (ICU) were similar, but COVID-19 patients admitted during the Omicron BA.5 variant period were more likely to die in the hospital, according to a study published late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
A team led by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers analyzed medical records and COVID-19 and flu surveillance network data from selected counties in 14 states from October 2021 to September 2022.
“After very low levels of influenza circulation during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, circulation increased during the 2021-2022 season,” the researchers wrote. “The epidemiology of COVID-19 has also changed during the pandemic with circulation of new variants and increasing population-level immunity.”