Delta variant of COVID-19 doubles risk of hospitalization

People infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus are approximately twice as likely to be hospitalized as those infected with the Alpha version, according to a large study published this Friday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Researchers from the British Public Health Agency (PHE) and the University of Cambridge analyzed the medical records out of 43,338 people tested positive for COVID-19 in England between March 29 and May 23, 2021.

Only 20% of these cases (8,682) were caused by the delta variant, first identified in India in December 2020, while the remainder (34,656) corresponded to the alpha variant, the first known sample of which was taken in the south of England in November 2020.

Of all those infected, one in 50 was admitted for coronavirus within 14 days of testing positive. Of those infected with the Alpha variant, 2.2% (764 people) were admitted, while among those infected with Delta, 2.3% (196) were hospitalized.

After taking into account the factors that affect personal predisposition to develop severe COVID symptoms, such as age, ethnicity and vaccination, Scientists calculated that the risk of ending up in the hospital was multiplied by 2.26 with the Delta variant.

“This study confirms previous results which suggested that people with delta are much more likely to require hospitalization.”Gavin Dabrera, co-author of the study, said in a statement from the British scientific journal.

The publication points out that several studies have shown that the complete vaccination schedule “It prevents both symptomatic infection and hospitalization, both for the Alpha variant and for the Delta.”

In this study, only 1.8% of the patients studied (794) had received two doses of a vaccine, 24% (10,466) were partially immune and 74% (32,078) had not received any injections.

(With information from EFE)

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