Nosocomial outbreak in a respiratory ward caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA 5.2.1 sub-variant associated with non-severe illness in vaccinated patients
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In this short report, we describe an outbreak of COVID-19 caused by Omicron sub-variant BA.5.2.1 in highly vaccinated patients in a respiratory ward in large acute general hospital in North West London, UK. The attack rate was high (14/33 (42%)) but the clinical impact was relatively non severe including in patients who were at high risk of severe COVID-19. 12/14 patients had COVID-19 vaccinations. There was only one death due to COVID-19 pneumonitis. The findings of this outbreak investigation suggest that while transmissibility of Omicron BA.5.2.1 sub-variant is high, infections caused by this strain are non-severe in vaccinated patients, even if they are at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
Date Issued
2023
Date Acceptance
2023-09-14
ISSN
0950-2688
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Journal / Book Title
Epidemiology and Infection
Volume
151
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge
University Press. This is an Open Access article,
distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution licence (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which
permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and
reproduction, provided the original article is
properly cited.
University Press. This is an Open Access article,
distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution licence (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which
permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and
reproduction, provided the original article is
properly cited.
License URI
Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268823001590
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e171
Date Publish Online
2023-09-26