[ad_1]
- The preprint results of the latest round of the REACT-1 COVID-19 surveillance study show that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 dominates in England.
- Unvaccinated people are three times more likely to contract the virus.
- Infections are mainly present in young people.
- While COVID-19 vaccines still offer protection, the Delta variant reduces their effectiveness.
In a preprint article that has not yet been peer reviewed, the results of the latest round of the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission 1 (REACT-1) study – which monitors COVID-19 cases in England – have been published.
The results highlight the almost complete dominance of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in England, with young people aged 13 to 24 being the most affected by the infection.
The results also show that although vaccinated people still enjoy significant protection against infection compared to unvaccinated people, the Delta variant reduces the effectiveness of the vaccines.
The preprint results provide valuable information as the UK government decides whether or not to offer the vaccines to adolescents to reduce a potential spike in infections in the fall.
The UK has seen a relatively successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations. In fact, over 74% of adults have now received both doses.
Vaccination is crucial to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and reduce the number of people who develop serious infections and require hospitalization.
In addition to reducing the number of people who could die from COVID-19, having fewer people in the hospital avoids overwhelming intensive care units (ICUs). Having busy intensive care units leads to a chain increase in the number of deaths from other serious illnesses.
However, despite the high number of adults vaccinated, the number of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased significantly over the past 3 months.
The latest preprint results from the REACT-1 program clearly indicate that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, which has become dominant in England, is behind this increase in infections.
Imperial College London coordinates the REACT-1 program. Each month, researchers ask a random sample of more than 150,000 people from across England if they want to participate in the study.
Scientists then release reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test kits to study participants, which they return by mail so that scientists can analyze the results.
The recent findings come from the 13th round of analyzes, covering June 24 to July 12, 2021. During this time, scientists analyzed 98,233 swabs from the participants.
Scientists found that among the swabs returned, 527 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. This equates to approximately 0.63% of all samples returned.
That’s more than four times as many positive samples as the previous cycle, covering May 20 to June 7, 2021, which stood at 0.15%.
Scientists were able to determine the genetic lineage of 254 of the swabs containing SARS-CoV-2. All of these were the Delta variant. The Alpha variant – which in the previous round accounted for over 10% of positive cases – had been completely replaced.
The American Society for Microbiology notes that the Delta variant could be 40 to 60% more infectious than the Alpha variant. This probably explains its current dominance in England.
The researchers behind the REACT-1 study also found that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was nine times higher in people aged 13 to 17 years compared to the previous cycle.
In addition, people aged 5 to 24 account for 50% of positive results, while this age group only accounts for 25% of people over 5 in England.
Results regarding vaccine efficacy have been mixed. On the one hand, vaccines always make a significant difference in protecting people against the virus. In fact, people who are not vaccinated are three times more likely to contract the virus than people who are vaccinated.
However, after adjusting for a range of variables, the researchers found that the vaccine’s effectiveness was 49%. This is a reduction from the previous cycle of analysis, which found the vaccines to be 64% effective.
Vaccines are more effective in protecting against symptomatic COVID-19, with an effectiveness of 59%. However, this is still a drop from the 83% efficiency of the previous cycle.
The reduced effectiveness of the vaccines is also reflected in a recent finding that 75% of people who contracted the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a recent outbreak in Massachusetts had received both vaccines.
In light of the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant and the large number of young people who are now contracting the virus, the researchers behind the study suggest that the UK government may consider vaccinating people between the ages of 12 and 17. .
Talk with Medical News TodayCorresponding study author Professor Steven Riley of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London said:
“[Those aged 12–17 years are] over-represented in the current distribution of infections. Therefore, vaccinating this group will have a disproportionate impact on slowing the epidemic. “
Currently in the UK it is recommended that people aged 12 to 17 who are clinically vulnerable or who live with someone with a weakened immune system receive the vaccine.
Some people have expressed concern about the potential side effects associated with vaccination in children, especially the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis.
However, the
The researchers also suggest that the development of vaccines specifically for the Delta variant may be necessary.
They point out that their data suggests vaccines are still very effective in protecting against severe cases of COVID-19.
However, in the absence of a perfectly effective vaccine, as infections increase, hospitalizations and deaths will also increase, although these do not follow as quickly.
Pfizer vaccine data also suggests that a third booster dose could offer significant protection against the Delta variant.
However, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO,
“[The] WHO is calling for a moratorium on recalls until at least the end of September to allow at least 10% of the population in each country to be vaccinated.
“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot, and we must not, accept that the countries which have already used the major part of the global supply of vaccines are using even more while the most vulnerable people in the world are not protected ”, he added. said Dr Tedros.
For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.
[ad_2]
Source link