Comparing pandemic to seasonal flu, pandemic flu is definitely more deadly as most people are not immune to it, no effective vaccines, unlike seasonal flu:CDC estimates that flu-related hospitalizations since 2010 ranged from 140,000 to 710,000, while flu-related deaths are estimated to have ranged from 12,000 to 56,000.
Number of deaths from Pandemic flu could be much higher than seasonal flu (e.g. The estimated U.S. death toll during the 1918 pandemic was approximately 675,000)
Related link: How Is Pandemic Flu Different from Seasonal Flu?
Comparison with other viruses
For comparison, the case fatality rate with seasonal flu is less than 0.01% (1 death per every 10,000 cases)[4].
Mortality rate for SARS was 10%, and for MERS 34%.
| Virus | Death Rate |
| 2019-nCoV | 2%* |
| SARS | 10% |
| MERS | 34% |
| Swine Flu | 0.02% |
| Seasonal Flu | <0.01% |
*estimate
Related link: Coronavirus Death Rate
And I don't think people are panic. Chinese containment measure is quite transparent and effective. It's quite possible the outbreak will be contained in a month or two.
