One study confirms that Ómicron generates fewer hospitalizations and deaths than Delta

People with Omicron were half more likely to be hospitalized, about 75% less likely to need intensive care and 90% less likely to die than those with its Delta predecessor, according to the study.

Of the approximately 50,000 people who had the mutation in South Africa, none required supplemental oxygen.

The hospital stay lasted an average of 1.5 days for Omicron compared to five days for Delta, and 90% of patients carrying the new strain were discharged in three days or less.

The analysis was performed using data from the Kaiser Permanente Hospital System in Southern California, which served about 4.7 million people, between December 1, 2021 and January 2, 2022, when both variables were most prevalent.

The findings are based on an accumulation of population-level research from countries such as South Africa and Great Britain, but also on animal and cell tests, which found Omicron reproduces better in the upper respiratory tract than in the lungs.

Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, predicted yesterday that “Omicron, with its extraordinary and unprecedented degree of transmission efficiency, will infect nearly everyone.”

“This study was controlled for key factors such as age, gender, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, previous vaccination, and comorbidities,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walinsky explained at a press conference. , according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The results, he said, indicate that the micron is “inherently less severe than delta”.

Although the study noted a decrease in the vaccine’s efficacy against Omicron infection, it also found significant consistent protection against serious outcomes.

Walinsky cautioned that the findings should not lead to complacency, as severe infections continue to test America’s overburdened health care system and overburdened health care workers.

Currently, the United States records an average of 750,000 cases and 1,600 deaths per day, and about 150,000 hospitalizations.

Altogether, it is still the country most affected by the epidemic, above those that follow it, India and Brazil, with 62.8 million infections and 842,000 deaths.