Omicron less likely to hospitalize the affected

Scientists have stressed that even if these early findings hold, any reduction in severity must be weighed against the fact that Omicron spreads much faster than Delta and is able to evade the vaccine. The sheer number of infections can still overwhelm hospitals

Two new British studies have predicted some early signs that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the delta version.

Scientists have stressed that even if these early findings hold, any reduction in severity must be weighed against the fact that Omicron spreads much faster than Delta and is able to evade the vaccine. The sheer number of infections can still overwhelm hospitals.

However, the new studies appear to support previous research suggesting that Omicron may not be as harmful as Delta, said Manuel Ascano Jr., a Vanderbilt University biochemist.

"Cautious optimism is probably the best way to look at this," he stressed.

An analysis by the COVID-19 response team at King's College London, which assessed the risk of hospitalization for Omicron cases in England, found people infected with this variant were about 20% less likely to go to hospital. hospital than all those infected with the delta variant, and 40% less likely to be hospitalized for one night or more.

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This analysis included all PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in England in the first half of December in which the variant could be identified:

56.000 cases of Omicron and 269.000 cases of Delta.

A separate study done in Scotland, by scientists from the University of Edinburgh and other experts, have shown that the risk of hospitalization was two-thirds less with Omicron than with delta. However, the study found that nearly 24.000 cases of Omicron in Scotland were mainly in the 20-39 age group. Young people are less likely to develop serious illness from COVID-19.

"This international investigation is one of the first to show that Omicron is less likely to result in spiral extension than Delta," the researchers wrote. Although the findings are early observations, "they are encouraging," the authors said.

The findings have not yet been reviewed by other experts, the gold standard in scientific research.

Ascano noted that the studies have limitations. For example, the findings are specific to a particular point in time during a rapidly changing situation in Britain, whereas other countries may not follow the same path.

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Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said that in the Scottish study, the proportion of young people was almost twice as high for the Omicron group compared to the Delta group, and this "could have biased in the conclusions that less severe results caused by Omicron".

However, he clarified that the data was quite interesting and claims that Omicron can lead to less severe diseases. However, he added: "It is important to note that Omicron has a much higher rate of transmission compared to Delta, the absolute number of people requiring hospitalization may still increase, despite Omicron not causing severe illness in many cases".