Research: The Micron mutation is milder for the unvaccinated

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus causes less severe disease than the Delta strain, even in people who have not been vaccinated or have had a previous Covid-19 infection, according to a study from the South African province of Western Cape.

According to Bloomberg, the study in this area compared 11,609 patients from the first three waves of infection caused by the Delta variant, and 5,144 patients from the last wave caused by Omicron.

The findings add to growing evidence that, although more nested, the Omicron strain may cause less severe infection than some of its predecessors. Data from South Africa, the first country where the new mutation was detected, have so far shown lower hospitalization and death rates.

However, with more than a quarter of the population vaccinated and a previous infection rate of 70% to 80%, there has been concern that this may mask the risk of the variant.

The study, which was released this week and has not yet been peer-reviewed, focused on the province’s public hospitals.

He found that 8% of people were hospitalized or died within 14 days of being diagnosed with Covid-19 with Omicron mutation compared with 16.5% in the previous three waves.

“After adjusting for age, gender, comorbidity and subregion, there was a significantly reduced risk of death in the fourth wave compared to the third wave,” the researchers said. “The extent of the reduction was mitigated when the previously diagnosed infections and vaccination were further examined.”

Even when previous infections were taken into account, there was a 25% lower risk of death in the fourth wave than in the third, the researchers said.

However, after adjustments were made for immunity from vaccines or previous infections, the Omicron strain presented a similar risk to the strain first identified in Wuhan.