Filenews 10 August 2021
'South African' beta variant of coronavirus is more deadly than 'British' Alpha, research shows
People infected with the now-dominant Delta Beta variant ("South African") of the coronavirus are more likely to need admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and die from Covid-19, compared to those who get sick from the "British" Alpha variant, according to a study from Qatar.
The Beta variant, known scientifically as B.1.351, was first detected in South Africa at the end of 2020 and later spread to other countries, including Greece. The researchers, led by Epidemiology Professor Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad of Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar, according to Nature, studied people infected in early 2021, when two variants of the virus, Alpha ("British") and Beta, were mainly circulating in the Arab country.
Patients with Beta were found to be 24% more likely to become ill with severe Covid-19 than those infected with Alpha. They were also almost 50% more likely to need admission to ICU and had a 57% greater risk of dying from the disease. Dr Abu-Raddad spoke of a "clearly more dangerous variant" and pointed out that as Beta incidents in Qatar increased, so did ICU imports and deaths.
Although the study has not yet been published in a scientific journal, but only as a pre-publication in medRxiv, it is considered reliable. Another South African study published in July in the medical journal "The Lancet Global Health," led by Dr. Wasila Jasat of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Johannesburg, also found that Beta is more likely to lead to severe hospitalization and death.
But as the most contagious Delta variant spreads worldwide (and in Greece), Beta now seems to be fading even in those places where it once dominated, such as South Africa and Qatar. On the other hand, according to Abu-Raddad, Beta appears to be more resistant to vaccines against Covid-19 (even than Delta), so it could recover in the future. as he noted, "we should never underestimate it".
CNA
