Data confirms Omicron causes less severe Covid-19
Discovery Health’s latest study shows hospital admissions fell by 61% during the fourth wave
Discovery Health’s analysis of admission data in South Africa’s private hospitals has found that Covid-19 disease was much less severe once the Omicron variant became the prevalent virus in circulation. The study included factors such as acuity of symptoms and length of hospital stay. Discovery is South Africa’s largest medical aid administrator.
According to the analysis of hospital data, the admission rate for unvaccinated people was 8% and partially or fully vaccinated people was at 5%. Fully or partially vaccinated people had shorter hospital stays.
On 12 September, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority confirmed that there were now two confirmed deaths in the country that were directly linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a very rare complication of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.
Low infection rates
In general, infection levels are low in South Africa at the moment, but the most recent report from a team of scientists tracking variants in the country has identified 14 cases of the virus caused by a sublineage of Omicron, designated XAY, that is being tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). These cases were found in Gauteng and Limpopo.
Prof Ann von Gottberg from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the case numbers are too small to make a finding on the severity of symptoms but added that there has not been an increase in hospital admissions.
According to the latest epidemiological report issued by the institute, there have been more than four million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa, with 1,619 reported in the last week.
Case numbers are still falling and only Gauteng reported a weekly incidence risk (5.2 cases per 100 000 persons) higher than what the WHO deems as an indicator that an outbreak is under control (5/100 000).
Older people remain at risk, according to this report, and those aged 80 and older are still at highest risk of getting the virus. Children aged five to nine were at the lowest risk.
Discovery’s data
The Discovery study follows an initial analysis done in December 2021 when, because of the increased transmissibility of Omicron in comparison to the Beta and Delta variants, it became essential to have some data on the severity of disease caused by this version of the virus.
Discovery administers schemes with 3.7 million members and its third study looking into the severity of Covid-19 since December 2021 analysed claims and data from those who fell ill with Covid-19 up to March 2022.
Findings of the study
Hospital admissions fell by 61% in comparison to the Delta wave. More children than adults tested positive for the virus during the fourth wave, and there were more admissions of children because of the severity of symptoms than in the third wave. Most of the children admitted during the fourth wave were babies younger than one. For adults, the admission rate (around 6%) was about half of that during previous waves.
Most of those admitted during the fourth wave needed treatment for pneumonia.
In another 42% of cases, patients admitted to hospital tested positive for Covid-19 but were admitted for an unrelated condition.
Further analysis of the severity of symptoms found that during the fourth wave 69% of patients were admitted to general wards, which was a slight increase compared to previous waves, but intensive care unit admissions were much lower at 14% in comparison to 21% during the first three waves.
Average hospital stay was also down during the fourth wave.
Mental health crisis
As the Covid-19 emergency passes, the WHO has called for more attention to be given to mental health, saying that the pandemic triggered anxiety and depression in many people.
On Wednesday the director-general of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said Covid-19 triggered a 25% increase in general anxiety and depression worldwide, exposing how unprepared governments were for its impact on mental health, and revealing a chronic global shortage of mental health resources.
“In 2020, governments worldwide spent an average of just 2% of health budgets on mental health, with lower-middle income countries investing less than 1%,” Ghebreyesus said, calling for more awareness of mental health in the workplace.
On this note, Guy Ryder, the director-general of the International Labour Organization, said: “As people spend a large proportion of their lives in work, a safe and healthy working environment is critical. We need to invest to build a culture of prevention around mental health at work, reshape the work environment to stop stigma and social exclusion, and ensure employees with mental health conditions feel protected and supported.”
The admission rate for unvaccinated people was 8% and partially or fully vaccinated people was at 5%. Fully or partially vaccinated people had
shorter hospital stays