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Omicron significantly milder than Delta? Virologist Kekulé: "It's clear after this study"

2022-01-17T14:12:53.679Z


A new US study gives hope. The Omicron variant seems to be actually much milder than Delta. However, there is a but.


A new US study gives hope.

The Omicron variant seems to be actually much milder than Delta.

However, there is a but.

Munich – After the first horror reports about Omikron, early studies gave hope that the variant has a milder course than the previously dominant delta variant of the corona virus.

However, the first studies came from South Africa, where omicron first became rampant.

The problem with this, however, is that the population there is significantly younger than in Europe.

As a result, there are significantly fewer risk patients and more people with a good immune system.

Researchers warned to view the studies from South Africa with caution.

Corona: More and more studies see a milder course at Omikron

But since then, omicron has also spread to Europe, hitting Great Britain and Denmark, among others, badly. There are now also studies from these countries that give a sigh of relief. A study by Imperial College in London also confirmed a milder course.

Now there is another large-scale preprint study on Omicron, which makes the German virologist Alexander Kekulé optimistic.

Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley (USA) analyzed the data from around 70,000 corona cases for their new study.

Of these, about 50,000 were infected with omicron, and about 20,000 with delta.

The infected all came from California.

Among other things, the risk of hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit and the risk of death after an infection were examined.

Although the study has already been published, it has not yet been reviewed by other scientists.

Corona study on Omikron: Significantly lower risk of hospitalization or death

The researchers came to the following conclusions: only 1.8 percent of those examined were admitted to the hospital.

Of these, 235 were omicron cases (0.5 percent) and 222 were delta cases (1.3 percent).

The probability of getting into the hospital with omicron,

is therefore around 52 percent lower than that of Delta.

The risk of intensive care treatment was also 74 percent lower for those infected with Omicron than for Delta. Mortality (risk of death after an infection) was even 91 percent lower with the omicron variant. The study also found that the average length of hospital stay was 3.4 days shorter in hospitalized patients with omicron variant infections than in hospitalized patients with delta variant infections. The researchers speak of a reduction in the length of hospital stay by around 70 percent.

In their conclusion, the scientists write: "During a period of mixed delta and omicron variant circulation, Sars-CoV-2 infections with putative omicron variant infection were associated with a significantly reduced risk of severe courses and shorter hospital stays."

Virologist Kekulé shares the Omicron study - and calls for the abolition of quarantine for symptom-free contacts

Kekulé shared the results of the study on Twitter and wrote: "After this further study (preprint), it is clear that omicron is significantly milder than delta."

According to this further study (preprint), with almost 70,000 patients, it is clear that #Omikron is significantly milder than Delta.

ICU admissions -74%, deaths -91%.

I discussed consequences for a new #Corona strategy in podcast #263.

(https://t.co/O7BVdDwYYt

— Alexander Kekulé (@AlexanderKekule) January 12, 2022

Despite the milder course, Omikron remains dangerous because of the rapid spread.

Germany even set new records for new infections.

In the event of an even faster increase in the number of infections in the omicron wave, Alexander Kekulé has raised the possibility of abolishing the tracking and quarantine of symptom-free contacts.

According to his considerations, people with symptoms and confirmed infections should continue to be isolated consistently, as he explained on Tuesday at MDR Aktuell.

+

Virologist Alexander Kekule comments on the Omicron study.

© Müller-Stauffenberg/Imago

With a view to a situation with a very high number of cases, Kekulé described it as “completely impossible that the health department would then identify all contact persons”.

He would "seriously consider the possibility" of abandoning the pursuit.

(md with dpa)

List of rubrics: © Müller-Stauffenberg via www.imago-images.de

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-17

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