The Chances for Hospitalization Increase Significantly for COVID Delta Patients

The Chances for Hospitalization Increase Significantly for COVID Delta Patients
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At first, people thought that the Delta strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is only more contagious than previous variants. But we have another reason to believe that it’s also more dangerous for the individual once the infection occurs.

A new study published in The Lancet reveals that if you get infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus, you are twice as likely to need admission in the hospital compared to the situation if the Alpha variant infects you.

Over 43,000 COVID cases analyzed

For the new study, researchers analyzed 43,338 COVID cases that occurred from March to May. Surprising or not, the bulk of the infections were in individuals who weren’t vaccinated. 2.3% of those infected with the Delta variant and 2.2% of the patients infected with Alpha needed hospital care. The conclusion was that after adjusting for differences like sex, age and ethnicity, the risk of getting hospitalized was two times as high for those persons who carried the Delta strain, compared to the ones having Alpha.

Source: Pixabay
Source: Pixabay

The Medical Research Council and Public Health England (PHE) led the study.

Dr Gavin Dabrera from Public Health England said as quoted by the BBC:

We already know that vaccination offers excellent protection against Delta and, as this variant accounts for over 99% of Covid cases in the UK, it is vital that those who have not received two doses of vaccine do so as soon as possible,

It is still important that if you have Covid symptoms, stay home and get a PCR test as soon as possible.

While the new study emphasizes that it’s important for people to get fully vaccinated against COVID, as such a measure will bring down the risk of hospitalization, we would like to know your own opinion about the news in the comment section.


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Even since he was a child, Cristian was staring curiously at the stars, wondering about the Universe and our place in it. Today he's seeing his dream come true by writing about the latest news in astronomy. Cristian is also glad to be covering health and other science topics, having significant experience in writing about such fields.

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