One study found that the delta variant doubled the risk of hospitalization.
It was already known that the Covid strain first identified in India was up to 50% more transmissible than the previous dominant alpha variant, which appeared in Kent.
But the largest study to date comparing the two now shows that people with a delta strain are 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized.
Delta is also 1.45 times more likely to see people entering A&E who need emergency treatment.
The study found that the delta variable doubled the risk of hospitalization
The scientists claimed this was further evidence that the same traits that speed up the spread of the variant also increase virus levels in those it infects, leading them to develop more serious diseases.
The study’s authors, led by Public Health England and the University of Cambridge, said their findings should be used by hospitals for planning – particularly in areas where the delta variable is increased.
Dr Anne Brisanis, chief statistician at the university, said: “Our analysis shows that without vaccination, any epidemic in the delta would impose a greater burden on health care than an alpha epidemic.
“Having a full vaccination is essential to reduce an individual’s risk of developing symptoms of delta disease in the first place, and most importantly, to reduce the risk of serious illness and hospitalization from a delta patient.”
It was already known that the Covid strain first identified in India was up to 50% more transmissible than the previous dominant alpha variant, which appeared in Kent.
But the largest study to date comparing the two now shows that people with a delta strain are 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized. Above: Covid cases in South Korea are on the rise after Delta type arrives in the country. But the number of infections in the UK is still much higher
Commenting on the findings, Dr Zania Stamataki, a viral immunologist at the University of Birmingham, said: “Combined with previous studies showing delta are 50% more infectious than alpha, there is growing evidence that we are dealing with a very dangerous variant.”
About 74% of the study participants — which was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal — had not been vaccinated.
But among those vaccinated—the vast majority of whom only took one dose—those with the delta variant likely had an approximately double risk of hospitalization compared with those with the alpha variant.
But this number is uncertain because there have been too few vaccinated patients to provide an accurate estimate.