The study shows that the Delta Covid variant is TWICE more likely to land patients in the hospital and be more infectious
- It was already known that the variant is up to 50% more transmissible than the previous dominant Alpha variant
- He is also 1.45 times more likely to see people in need of emergency treatment
- Those infected with Delta are 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized
The Delta variant doubles the risk of hospital admission, according to a study.
It was already known that the Covid strain first identified in India is up to 50% more transmissible than the previous dominant Alpha variant, which emerged in Kent.
But the largest study to date comparing the two shows that those infected with the Delta strain are 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized.
Delta is also 1.45 times more likely to see people entering A&E who need emergency treatment.
The Delta variant doubles the risk of hospital admission, according to a study
The scientists said that this is one more proof that the same features that make the variant spread faster also increase the levels of the virus in which it infects, which makes them more seriously ill.
The authors of the study, led by Public Health England and Cambridge University, said their results should be used by hospitals to plan them, especially in areas where the Delta variant increases.
Dr Anne Presanis, a senior university statistician, said: “Our analysis shows that in the absence of vaccination, any outbreak of Delta will impose a greater burden on health than an Alpha epidemic.
“Complete vaccination is crucial to reduce the risk of symptomatic infection with Delta in the first place and, most importantly, to reduce the risk of serious illness and hospital admission of a Delta patient.”
It was already known that the Covid strain first identified in India is up to 50% more transmissible than the previous dominant Alpha variant, which emerged in Kent
But the largest study to date comparing the two shows that those infected with the Delta strain are 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized. Above: Covid cases in South Korea increase after the Delta variant arrived in the country. But the number of infections in the UK is even much higher
Commenting on the results, Dr Zania Stamataki, a viral immunologist at the University of Birmingham, said: “Along with previous studies showing that Delta is 50% more infectious than Alpha, it is shown that we are facing a very dangerous variant.” .
Approximately 74% of study participants, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, were not vaccinated.
But among those vaccinated (the vast majority of whom had only had one dose), those infected with the Delta variant could have almost twice the risk of hospitalization compared to those who had the Alpha variant.
But that figure is uncertain because there were too few vaccinated patients to provide an accurate estimate.