women and unvaccinated the subjects most at risk

The latest report from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità raises the alarm on the front of reinfections from Covid-19. The ISS, in fact, lists the categories that are most exposed to the possibility of recovering the virus a few months after recovery. These are not very rare cases given that since last August Covid has returned to affect as many as 232,818 Italians who had emerged from a first infection. Who is most at risk? First of all, the unvaccinated and women, especially teachers. If the surprise is modest due to the involvement of those who have not protected themselves, the ISS explains the greater reinfections of women compared to men precisely due to the high number of professors who, inevitably, work in an environment such as the school one, where circulation of Covid remains high. Other categories that register a greater degree of reinfection are those who have been cured for more than 7 months, those who have been vaccinated with a single dose for more than 4 months and the age group between 12 and 49 years. Until January, however, more than 20-39 year olds had recovered (39% of total reinfections), followed by 40-59 year olds (34%).

The trend

In the last week, the percentage of Covid-19 reinfections out of the total reported cases was 3.1 percent of total infections, a slight decrease compared to 3.2 percent in the previous week.
It should be considered that the Omicron variant (as it is known it spread quickly between December and January, until it became dominant in Italy) is a catalyst for reinfections. Indeed, the ISS explains how it is “probable that with the increase in circulation of the Omicron variant the risk of reinfection may increase as reported by a recent study published in the United Kingdom by the Imperial College which highlighted how the circulation of the Omicron variant is associated at a relative risk of reinfection of 5.41 times higher than the Delta variant ».

The numbers

Also according to the study of the Imperial College the probability of contracting a reinfection is higher in the unvaccinated than in those vaccinated with at least one dose. To them are added health workers.
The ISS has been monitoring the phenomenon for some time. There were 21,000 reinfections in non-immunized cases between mid-December and mid-January, compared to 2,800 cases among those vaccinated with at least one dose at the time of the first diagnosis and 65,000 among those who received the vaccine after the first diagnosis. There were also many reinfections among health workers: over 4,000 in one month, compared to 37,000 first diagnoses.

Hospitalizations and deaths are decreasing

Meanwhile, mortality from Covid is decreasing in Italy and health facilities also continue to feel less pressure from hospitalizations. Intensive care, according to Agenas data, has in fact already been below the critical threshold of 10% for a few days and now reaches 8% of the occupancy of the beds. The non-critical area departments then continue to decongest, approaching the 15% threshold (now 17%). In all, 4 regions (Lombardy, Molise, Piedmont and Veneto) and the two autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento record both values ​​below the critical threshold of 10% for the intensive and 15 for the departments. Mortality data in Italy for the period 1-15 February still show higher values ​​than expected both in the north (+ 4%) and in the center-south (+ 15%), in particular in Turin, Genoa, Rimini, Ancona, Terni, Rome, Latina, Naples, Taranto, Palermo, Catania and Syracuse. But the weekly Sismg surveillance report as of February 15 shows a decrease in mortality both in the north and in the center-south compared to the previous week. A comparison between Covid-19 waves shows that in the current wave, the impact is less than the previous ones. In the fourth the excess mortality is 13% compared to 30% in the first two waves. As mentioned, even if the Sunday data are never considered representative, there are 30,629 new infections from Covid in the last 24 hours. On Saturday there were 38,375. On the other hand, the victims are 144 (210 on Saturday). Compared to 317,784 molecular and antigenic swabs for the coronavirus carried out, the positivity rate is 9.6%. In the meantime, the first doses of the Novavax vaccine, which arrived in Italy on Saturday, have reached the regions and the first doses are already scheduled for tomorrow in Lombardy.