A big study in the United States has discovered that the Omicron version of the SARS-CoV2 virus is intrinsically as virulent as prior variations, contrary to previous studies’ expectations that it was more transmissible but less deadly.
‘We found that the risks of hospitalisation and mortality were nearly identical between periods,’ said four scientists who conducted the study based on records of 130,000 COVID-19 patients. ‘We found that the risks of hospitalisation and mortality were nearly identical between periods,’ they said, referring to times in the previous two years when different variants were dominant around the world.
The study, which was published on Research Square on May 2 and is currently undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio, was adjusted for confounders such as demographics, vaccination status, and the Charlson comorbidity index, which predicts the risk of death within a year of hospitalisation for patients with specific comorbid conditions.
According to the scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, Minerva University, and Harvard Medical School, investigations assuming that the Omicron version was less severe were undertaken in a variety of locations, including South Africa, Scotland, England, and Canada.
They noted that their study could have numerous flaws, including the possibility that it overestimated the number of vaccinated patients and the total number of illnesses in more recent COVID waves since it excluded individuals who did at-home quick testing.
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