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The number of hospital admissions due to the COVID-19 epidemic is increasing in the US

Posted on 14 Month 08 2023

The new variant EG.5 of Omicron, also known as “Eris,” is increasing in spread in the US; It is estimated that this variant now accounts for about 17% of COVID-19 infections in the country.

*Treating patients infected with COVID-19 at a hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA). (Photo: AFP/VNA)*

For the first time this year, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is increasing in the US, since the first days of August.

The cause was determined to be hot weather, causing many activities to be held indoors, instead of outdoors. This increases the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while many people have weakened immune systems despite having previously been fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

In particular, in the last week of July, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the US increased by 43% compared to the last week of June.

On August 9, Reuters news agency quoted the US CDC as saying that the new variant EG.5 of Omicron, also known as "Eris", is currently increasing its spread in the US. It is estimated that this variant now accounts for about 17% of COVID-19 cases in the country.

[More than 15.5 million children in the US have COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic]

The World Health Organization (WHO) on August 9 announced the need to be concerned about the EG.5 sub-variant of Omicron after noting the increase and widespread spread of this variant. In addition to the US, a number of other countries such as the UK, France and Japan also recorded a sharp increase in the number of cases in the past few weeks.

According to the WHO assessment, this variant appears to be more transmissible than other circulating variants, possibly due to protein mutations. The WHO also said that this variant shows the ability to "dodge" immunity.

However, to date, there is no indication that EG.5 causes severe symptoms, and WHO has identified this variant as having a "low" risk to global public health.

According to Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University (USA), this increase in COVID-19 cases is not a global outbreak, but people need to be alert to the disease, especially for those who are sick. vulnerable subjects and those with underlying diseases.

Health experts warn people at risk should consider booster vaccinations with commercially available vaccines and that the use of masks remains an option.

Vulnerable people with symptoms need to get tested right away so they can be treated with antiviral drugs like Pfizer's Paxlovid, which reduces the risk of hospitalization and death.

* SOURCE: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/so-ca-nhap-vien-do-dich-benh-covid19-dang-tang-len-o-my/888840.vnp

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