Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Lwv63Fs63Vs   The risk of developing a severe case of CoVid during the current Omicron era is roughly two-thirds less than during the immediately previous Delta era.  Using a national database, investigators at Case Western Reserve University performed a retrospective review of 577,938 first-time CoVid-infected patients.  Of them 14,054 had Omicron CoVid while 563,884 developed Delta CoVid.   Comparing Omicron versus Delta infections, the risk of a ED visit was 70% less, the risk of hospitalization was 54% less, the risk of an ICU admission was 67% less, and the risk of requiring a ventilator was 84% less.  For children and teens 5 through 17 years, the risk of an ED visit was 81% lower for Omicron and the risk of hospitalization was 64% lower for Omicron.   Omicron produces less severe disease than Delta.  That doesn’t mean acute Omicron infections are innocuous, particularly in the unvaccinated and unboosted.  Then too, it’s way too early for us to know what mischief Omicron wil