The Delta variant involves twice the risk of hospitalization: study

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) – People receiving the Delta variant of the coronavirus are twice as likely to be hospitalized as people infected with the Alpha variant, which was first detected in England last year , according to a study.

The study, based on more than 43,000 COVID-19 cases of mostly unvaccinated people in England, compared the risk of hospitalization of people infected with Delta, which was first detected in India, with people who captured Alpha.

“Our analysis shows that in the absence of vaccination, any outbreak of Delta will impose a greater burden on health than an Alpha epidemic,” said Anne Presanis, one of the lead authors of the University’s study and statistics. of Cambridge.

The study was based on cases between March and May during the early stages of Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, so it was unable to assess the additional risk of hospital admission for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

The study, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, was the largest to date to analyze COVID-19 cases confirmed by virus genome sequencing.

Written by William Schomberg; Edited by David Holmes

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