HealthDay News – The Delta Variant of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for most breakthrough infection cases in vaccinated individuals, according to a study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s advance release dated July 30th was published and Weekly Report on the Prevention of Morbidity and Mortality.
Catherine M. Brown, DVM, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston and colleagues describe an outbreak of 469 cases of COVID-19 related to events and large public gatherings in a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The vaccination coverage rate was 69 percent among eligible Massachusetts residents.
The researchers found that 74 percent of the cases occurred in people who were fully vaccinated. The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in 89 percent of the 133 patients who underwent genome sequencing; the Delta AY.3 subline was identified in one patient. Of the vaccinated patients with breakthrough infection, 79 percent were symptomatic. Five patients were hospitalized, four of whom were fully vaccinated; there were no deaths. The real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction cycle thresholds were similar for samples from 127 vaccinated subjects with breakthrough cases and 84 unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or unknown subjects.
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“Even jurisdictions without significant or high levels of COVID-19 transmission, given the potential risk of infection while attending large public gatherings attended by travelers from many areas with varying levels of vaccination, might consider expanding prevention strategies, including indoor public masking independently on the vaccination status transmission, ”write the authors.
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COVID19 General Infectious Diseases General Medicine
