Description

Human infectious diseases may be characterized by their case fatality rate (CFR), the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who die from it. It should not be confused with the infection fatality rate (IFR), the estimated proportion of people infected by a disease-causing agent, including asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections, who die from the disease. IFR cannot be higher than the CFR and is often much lower, but is also much harder to calculate. This data is based on optimally treated patients and excludes isolated cases or minor outbreaks, unless otherwise indicated.