NIPH figures show sharp increase in admissions with British variant – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

The British variant is now the dominant virus variant in Norway. As of early March, more than 70 percent of all people with a crown in Norway were infected with the British variant, according to the National Institute of Public Health.

Now, a new study at FHI shows that the British variant leads much more often to serious illness.

– People infected with the British variant are associated with a 2.6 times higher risk of being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 as the main reason for hospitalization, says the director of the Line Vold department of the National Institute of Public Health.

More severe for all age groups.

The increase in the number of admissions occurs in all age groups.

The study shows that the British variant also causes serious illness in young people and adults under 40 years of age.

This age group has largely protected itself from serious illness with earlier variants of the virus.

– The risk is still low in the younger age groups, but has increased somewhat in all age groups from 20 years onwards, where we have such large numbers that we can trust those numbers, says Line Vold at FHI .

In the second week of March, 165 new people were admitted to the hospital as a result of COVID-19. This is the highest number of crown cause admissions for a week since March 2020.

With the new findings of the study, you can see the increase in admissions relative to the further spread of the British variant.

– It is serious that this new, more contagious variant also seems to have a higher risk of hospitalizations. We are concerned about the spread of infection with this new variant, says Line Vold at FHI.

It was discovered in December

The British variant was first introduced in December. At the time, British Health Minister Matt Hancock said there was nothing to indicate that the new variant led to a more serious illness.

A few days later, on December 20, Norway stopped all direct flights from the UK to Norway in order to prevent the new variant from reaching Norway.

New variants emerge through mutations. In Norway, a South African variant of the virus has also been identified.

A mutation means that there is a lasting change in the genetic material of organisms. The goal of the virus is to spread as much as possible, and then it must adapt to the host (in this case humans) so that it can reproduce.

According to international research

The FHI study is based on all new infections recorded in the period from December 14 to March 7 and is adjusted for age, sex, country of birth, risk status and date of the test.

The researchers’ findings are consistent with studies from other countries, showing that the British variant carries an increased risk of severe disease and death.

– Our goal is to keep the burden of disease low and make sure you have the capacity in the health service to care for those who need help. With this new variant, we know that more people will be admitted to the hospital, says Vold.

She says the experience of other countries is that the epidemic has required stronger measures to keep it under control when you have this British variant.

– Therefore, stricter measures may be required to reduce infection, he says.

– It can help you get sicker

Espen Nakstad, deputy director of the Norwegian Health Directorate, also says there is an increase in the number of admissions with the British variant.

– If it continues to increase as quickly in the coming weeks, it will be a very difficult situation, he says.

He says that this is a special virus that is most contagious before you really get sick, in contrast to many other viral illnesses where it becomes more and more contagious the sicker you get. It can contribute to the different characteristics of this virus.

– Now we see that when you become more contagious, you probably get more virus particles into your body at an early stage. It can contribute to making you sicker, at least in the early stages of the disease, than you would be otherwise, he says.

The deputy health director says keeping a good distance, testing yourself when you have symptoms and not being too many together, will be important in the future to keep the number of infections under control.