According to a new study on Covid patients, the risk of death and hospitalization is relatively less from the new Omicron variant. As the new variant is spreading at a rapid pace and causing millions of infections in a matter of a few weeks, experts are worried about the load on the health system. The vaccine efficacy has undoubtedly reduced to some extent as many people infected with Omicron have taken both doses of vaccines.
US Study Shows The Risk Of Hospitalization And Death, Less From Omicron
However, the symptoms associated with Omicron are very mild, and most people do not need hospitalization. Even when patients are admitted to the hospital due to Omicron infection, they do not require ventilator support in most cases. The average number of days a patient stays in hospital due to Omicron is about 1.5 days. On the other hand, it was as high as five days for the earlier variants.
Data from prominent hospitals in California was taken to analyze the severity of the Omicron variant. Even though it is still early to say that Omicron may not cause much trouble, doctors are hopeful about the situation. The only risk with this new variant is that it is more transmissible, and it can infect a large population within a short duration of time.
In this way, even when the rate of hospitalization is less, it can bring more patients to the hospitals and burden the health system. Several people have not yet taken the vaccines, which is a major cause of worry for health experts. Such people may need critical care, especially when they have co-morbid conditions like diabetes and blood pressure problems.
The findings of the new study are in sync with the data from the rest of the world. Even in countries like South Africa and Britain, the severity of Omicron was not much, and a lesser number of hospital admissions were recorded in this wave. As Omicron does not impact the lungs in a big way, it is not causing too many health complications.
The study was conducted by eminent researchers from the University of California and experts from the CDC. They considered the age of the patients and prior history of diseases, and vaccination data while conducting the research. It was found that the new variant itself is mild compared to previous ones, which is why a low number of hospital admissions in this wave.
However, the health experts warned that this should not encourage people to give up social distancing and other Covid safety norms. As the virus can spread rapidly within the community, it can affect vulnerable people in a big way. It is important to note that people are still dying due to the infection and the daily recorded death figure is more than 1000 in the US.
Dr. Anthony Fauci had recently mentioned that Omicron is likely to reach every household in the country in the next few months. Even though there is no need to worry about serious outcomes, it can still lead to health complications, especially in those people who are not vaccinated. For this reason, people who have not received the vaccines should consider taking them at the earliest to avoid hospitalization.
The number of people in hospitals is at an all-time high due to the rapid surge of Omicron in the US. Considering this situation, health experts are worried that the load on hospitals will be higher in the coming weeks. Experts have said that the peak is near, and the virus may slow down in the next few months. Meanwhile, it is important to follow safety measures and avoid health complications.
