BAHRAIN witnessed a dominance of the Delta variant of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in May and June this year, a study has revealed.
The analysis, ‘Morbidity and mortality from Covid-19 post-vaccination breakthrough infections in association with various Covid-19 vaccines and the emergence of variants in Bahrain’, published in Research Square said that 50 per cent of the cases in the country were due to the Delta variant by May 1 this year, while it also led to all Covid-19 fatalities in June.
According to studies, the Delta variant is a highly contagious coronavirus strain which was first identified in India in December last year, later spreading to the UK before reaching the US where it is now the predominant variant.
The new Bahrain study also concluded that the variant accounted for both unvaccinated and vaccinated deaths since May, which recorded 334 deaths.
From June last year until July 29 this year, 7,807 cases were studied for sequencing Covid-19 variants from among travellers, symptomatic cases and critically ill patients and post-vaccination cases.
“The results revealed dominance of Beta variant (identified in South Africa) between March and April this year followed by a rise in Delta and Kappa (identified in India) variants between April through June this year,” said the study.
“The Delta variant presence continued to rise from April through July.
Covid-19 death rates per vaccine in Bahrain from February to July this year
Statistics reflecting Covid-19 fatalities among vaccinated and unvaccinated people
Measure
“We measured the fraction of the Delta variant among all polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive cases, and found that 50 per cent of the cases were of the Delta variant by May 1 this year,” it said, adding that the subsequent analysis used May 1 as the cut-off date for the dominance of the variant.
It noted that all Covid-19 deaths from January 1 to May 1 were dominated by unvaccinated individuals infected predominantly by the Alpha variant, first identified in the UK in November, subsequent to which deaths increased in both unvaccinated and vaccinated which were dominated by the Delta variant.
“In May, there were 135 deaths in the unvaccinated cohort, 117 of which were positive for the Delta variant, while in the vaccinated group, there were 53 deaths, with 45 testing positive for the Delta variant.”
The GDN reported that May registered 334 fatalities followed by 372 in June – the highest monthly toll since March last year.
Targeted sequencing also showed deaths from January through April were dominated by the Alpha variant, as the most dominant variant in the country at that time. From May onwards, the fraction of all infections caused by the Delta variant rose from 30pc to 90pc by July.
“Death rates associated with the emergence of the Delta variant also rose in May, as anticipated, based on an increase in the number of cases, with this variant identified in 86pc of the deaths among the unvaccinated and 84pc among the vaccinated,” said the study.
“In June, all deaths in both groups were caused by the Delta variant, the dominant variant in the country.”
The timeline also reflected all four outcomes – post-vaccination infections, hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths – peaking in May-June period, which the study attributed to “the rise in the Delta variant” in the country.
The study said that all the four vaccines contributed to decreasing the rates of the outcomes, adding that the rates were higher among the Sinopharm vaccine recipients compared to others.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Delta is more transmissible than the common cold and influenza, as well as the viruses that cause smallpox, MERS, SARS, and Ebola.
The CDC reportedly called it “as contagious as chickenpox”.
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