How much safer than Delta is Omicron?
Study delivers amazing results
Created: 02/21/2022 05:34
By: Yasina Hipp
Delta variant vs. omicron variant - which is more dangerous?
© picture alliance/dpa/Julian Stratenschulte
For several weeks, the Omicron virus variant has been the dominant one in Germany.
Illnesses after an infection seem to be milder - the difference to Delta is actually that big.
Ontario – Despite the continued high number of infections, the corona situation in Germany seems to be easing step by step.
In its current weekly report, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) even reports that the apex of the omicron wave has been reached in large parts of Germany.
The greatest pressure on hospitals and intensive care units could therefore be over in the foreseeable future.
There are still almost 2,500 corona patients in intensive care units, but at the beginning of December there were still almost 5,000. An infection with the virus variant Omicron seems to lead to far less severe courses than with Delta.
However, researchers from Canada have now compared the two variants one-to-one with one another - and present surprising results.
Delta vs. Omicron: 9087 cases in direct comparison
The research team from Ontario, Canada, set up a large study with an interesting approach.
It studied people who contracted the coronavirus — either Delta or Omicron — between November 22 and December 24, 2021.
The Canadian researchers then formed pairs of one delta-infected and one omicron-infected.
It was based on the agreement of age, gender, vaccination status and the elapsed time since vaccination.
In the end, the researchers had a representative sample of 9087 delta cases and 9087 omicron cases, pairs of which matched exactly with regard to the factors addressed.
This makes it possible to draw direct comparisons between the two variants.
Delta vs. Omikon: Huge differences in deaths and hospitalizations
The first impressive result: At Omikron,
deaths were 88 percent lower
.
Within the sample, there were only three deaths (0.03 percent) in omicron-infected individuals and 26 deaths in delta-infected individuals.
Figures from Germany also confirm this finding.
According to current figures from the RKI, less than 0.1 percent of those infected with Omicron die from the disease.
In December, when Delta was still dominant, the figure was 0.46 percent.
According to the study, not only is the number of deaths at Omikron significantly lower, but also the number of hospital admissions.
There were 59 percent fewer hospitalizations
among the omicron-infected in the Canadian study
.
53 of the Omicron infected had to be treated in the hospital (0.6 percent).
Among the delta infected there were 129 (1.4 percent) - more than twice as many.
In Germany, the hospitalization rate is currently falling slowly.
It is currently 6.24 (as of February 18, 2022).
A week earlier, the value was 6.46.
Public Health Ontario Study
Procedure
: 9087 matched pairs of delta and omicron infected persons, factors: age, sex, vaccination status, elapsed time after vaccination
Aim:
To compare the variants with regard to hospitalization, intensive care and death
Results:
59 percent fewer hospitalizations, 81 percent fewer intensive care visits, and 88 percent fewer deaths at Omicron
Criticism:
90 percent of the sample younger than 60 years
Corona: Delta vs. Omikron - "Omikron seems to reduce the severity of the diseases"
The Canadian researchers draw the following conclusion from their results: "Omicron appears to reduce the severity of the disease in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people." Nevertheless, they warn of an impact on the health system due to the higher transmissibility.
Even if the approach of the study is very well thought out, there is a small catch.
About 90.4 percent of the patients examined were younger than 60 years.
A large part of the sample does not even belong to the risk group of the older population.
In terms of gender distribution, however, the sample is balanced again (50.3 percent female, 49.6 percent male).
