The attention of epidemiologists is focused on the three variants of the SarsCoV2 virus most widespread in Europe and indicates that all, to varying degrees, increase the risk of hospitalization even among the youngest. The first data are published on Eurosurveillance, the online scientific journal of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc). The research analyzed the diffusion of the English (B.1.1.7), South African (B.1.351) and Brazilian (P.1) variants in seven European countries, including Italy, in all age groups, from 0 -19 years to the over 80s. The fact that the variants increase hospitalizations, particularly in young people, is one more reason, the article reads, to "quickly reach high levels of vaccination coverage".
The need for a systematic analysis of the weight that variants have on admissions among young people had emerged following the observation of higher rates of infection in young people of school age made in Great Britain, the increase in admissions in people with fewer 60-year-old visa in Germany and to the most numerous hospitalizations for the South African variant reported in Denmark.
The research was conducted on more than 23,300 cases caused by variants, selected from the 3.2 million total registered in seven countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal) in the period between mid-September 2020 and mid-March 2021. Of the cases caused by the variants (23,343), nearly 20,000 (19,995) were due to the variants of concern, the 'Voc' (Variant of Concern).
In all the countries considered in the research, the English variant is the most widespread and has been identified in 3,730 children and young people between zero and 19 years, equal to 19.4% of cases, in 6,005 young adults between 20 and 39 years (31 , 3%) and in 6,151 adults aged 40 to 59 (32.0%). The numbers relating to the most advanced age groups are lower: 2,538 cases in that between 60 and 79 years (13.2% and 783 in the over 80s (4.1%). The risk of hospitalization is three times higher in the 20 group. -39 years and 2.3 times higher in that 40-59 years, while ICU admissions were comparable.
For the other two variants, the numbers are much lower, with different percentages in the different age groups. The South African, for example, is more common in the age groups 20-29 years (147 cases, 33.7%), and 40 and 59 years (139.31.9%), then in the 60-79 years ( 62, 14.2%). in the very young between zero and 19 years (60, 13.8%) and finally in the over 80 (28, 6.4%). With this variant, the risk of hospitalization is between 3.5 and 3.6 times greater for the age groups 40-59 years (in this group the probabilities of hospitalization in intensive care also increase) and 60-79 years The Brazilian variant it was found mainly in the.
40-59 years (107, 30.4%) and from zero to 19 years (79, 22.4%), followed by the 20-29 age groups (66, 18.8%), 60-79 (58, 16.5% 9 and over 80 (42, 11.9%). In this case the risk of hospitalization increases between 3 and 13.1 times in the age groups 20-39 years, 40-59 and 60 -79: admissions to intensive care increased from 2.9 to 13.9 times in the groups 40-59 years, 60-79 years and over 80). (HANDLE).
