A British study shows that people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted suffer from a corona infection with the omicron variant for a significantly shorter time than with Delta.
London – The SARS-CoV-2 mutation Omicron, classified as of concern at the end of November, is less severe than Delta. A study published on Friday (April 8) claims to have found that fully vaccinated and boosted people with a corona infection with the omicron variant suffer from symptoms two days shorter on average than with an infection with the delta variant. In the case of an omicron infection, the risk of losing the sense of smell is also significantly lower than with Delta, the British study authors write in the journal The Lancet continue.
Omicron more harmless than Delta: Shorter onset of symptoms
With their study, the researchers wanted to describe possible differences between Omicron and Delta in symptom prevalence, risk of hospitalization and symptom duration in the vaccinated population. For their study, they used the data from a free smartphone app called ZOE, in which more than 63,000 Britons aged 16 to 99 who were vaccinated before they were infected described their Covid symptoms between June 2021 and January 2022. The study found that symptomatic omicron infection was 25 percent less likely to result in hospitalization than Delta.
Shorter Omicron complaints have ‘impact on workplace health policy’
“The shorter symptom onset suggests that contagion time may be shorter, which in turn would have implications for workplace health policies and public health,” the study authors write. In those who had already received the third vaccination, the shorter symptom duration of Omicron compared to Delta was more pronounced. Symptoms lasted an average of 7.7 days during the delta-dominated period, while they lasted only 4.4 days and 3.3 days less during the omicron period, respectively.
Omicron: Sore throat and hoarse voice more common than Delta
In the case of fully vaccinated people without a booster dose, the difference was not quite as great. With omicron infection, this group experienced symptoms for 8.3 days compared to 9.6 days for Delta. The nature of the symptoms also differs depending on the virus variant. When infected with the Delta variant, which was dominant last year, 53 percent of vaccinated ZOE app users said they had lost their sense of smell. With the omicron variant, only 17 percent of those affected suffered from it. However, the risk of a sore throat was increased by 55 percent with Omikron, and a hoarse voice was 24 percent more likely with Omikron than with Delta, according to the study.
Corona: Serious infections less common in Omicron
Serious infections, on the other hand, were much less common with Omikron: According to the study, the probability of a hospital stay for vaccinated people with an Omikron infection was 25 percent lower than for previously vaccinated Delta patients. The study thus supports the assumption that Omikron causes less severe diseases not only because of a higher vaccination rate in the population, but also because of the properties of the virus variant itself.
British study shows differences in symptoms depending on the corona variant
Study author Cristina Menni from London’s King’s College emphasized that this is the first peer-reviewed study with a large number of participants that has dealt with the differences in symptoms depending on the corona variant. The evaluated data came from a time when the omicron subtype BA.2 did not predominate, as it does today, but the subvariant BA.1. However, recent data from the ZOE app did not indicate differences between BA.2 and BA.1 in terms of symptoms, Menni told AFP.
The standing vaccination committee Stiko recommends a booster vaccination after six months. However, hardly anyone wants the fourth dose. Corona vaccination fatigue is spreading in Germany. (AFP/ale)
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