Connect with us

Featured

January 1, Vaccinated and unvaccinated equally likely to spread delta variant within household, study finds

Published

on

According to a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, people who have received a COVID-19 vaccination are just as likely to spread the delta variant within their household as unvaccinated individuals.

The study found that people who contracted the virus had a similar viral load regardless of vaccination status. Twenty-five percent of vaccinated household contacts had contracted COVID-19, compared with 38 percent of unvaccinated individuals.

“Although vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and deaths from COVID-19, our findings suggest that vaccination is not sufficient to prevent transmission of the delta variant in household settings with prolonged exposures,” the researchers stated.

However, the researchers noted that the vaccine was more effective at diminishing the transmission of the alpha variant within the household, between 40 and 50 percent.

“Increasing population immunity via booster programmes and vaccination of teenagers will help to increase the currently limited effect of vaccination on transmission, but our analysis suggests that direct protection of individuals at risk of severe outcomes, via vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions, will remain central to containing the burden of disease caused by the delta variant,” the study read.

Last month, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb suggested that the “pandemic phase” of COVID-19 will end with the approval of antiviral pills and vaccines for children. Gottlieb said that the US would soon transition into an “endemic” phase as Americans learn to live with the virus.

Source:

Community transmission and viral load kinetics of the SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in the UK: a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending