Hospitalisation and mortality risk for COVID-19 cases with SARS-CoV-2 AY.4.2 (VUI-21OCT-01) compared to non-AY.4.2 Delta variant sub-lineages.

Abstract

To investigate if the AY.4.2 sub-lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant is associated with hospitalisation and mortality risks that differ from non-AY.4.2 Delta risks, we performed a retrospective cohort study of sequencing-confirmed COVID-19 cases in England based on linkage of routine healthcare datasets. Using stratified Cox regression, we estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) of hospital admission (aHR=0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.94), hospital admission or emergency care attendance (aHR=0.87, 95% CI 0.81-0.94) and COVID-19 mortality (aHR=0.85, 95% CI 0.71-1.03). The results indicate that the risks of hospitalisation and mortality is similar or lower for AY.4.2 compared to cases with other Delta sub-lineages.