Swedish corona approach leads to more deaths – Health

Sweden is aiming for group immunity in the fight against the corona virus. That goal is nowhere in sight. On the contrary, the country currently has one of the highest death rates in Europe, researchers warn.

In case of group immunity, a sufficiently large part of the population must become infected so that the infection cannot spread or is difficult to spread.

Sweden opted for that approach in March. It was one of the few European countries that did not impose a hard lockdown and counted on the individual responsibility of its inhabitants.

No group immunity yet

After four months, this group immunity is still not in sight, researchers say in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

According to forecasts, 40 percent of Stockholm residents must have had the disease and produced antibodies by May. In reality, group immunity was barely 15 percent.

In addition, research shows that those who only become slightly ill or show no symptoms have much fewer antibodies. As a result, they are very likely not immune.

Higher infection and mortality

The authors of the article, physician David Goldsmith and anthropologist Eric Orlowski (University College London), compared the measures taken in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway with the evolution of the virus in each of those Scandinavian countries.

‘It is clear,’ concludes lead author David Goldsmith, ‘that not only is the rate of viral infections, hospitalizations and deaths (per million inhabitants) much higher than those in neighboring Scandinavian countries, but that the time course of the epidemic in Sweden is also different , with a persistently higher infection and mortality rate well beyond the critical several-week period identified in Denmark, Finland and Norway. ‘

Fair assessment

Sweden currently has 83,000 confirmed cases and 5,770 deaths. Taking into account the size of the population (10 million inhabitants), Sweden currently has one of the highest death rates in Europe.

Countries that introduced lockdown measures from March appear to have had more success initially in limiting the wave of infection, the researchers conclude. But, right away, we can only fully understand the pandemic and the impact of the measures ‘after at least 1 to 2 years’. Only then is ‘an honest assessment’ possible.

In case of herd immunity, a sufficiently large part of the population must become infected so that the infection cannot spread or is difficult to spread. Sweden opted for this approach in March. It was one of the few European countries that did not impose a hard lockdown and counted on the individual responsibility of its inhabitants, but after four months that group immunity is still not in sight, say researchers in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 40 percent of Stockholm residents must have had the disease and produced antibodies by May. In reality, herd immunity was barely 15 percent, and research shows that those who become ill or show no symptoms have much fewer antibodies. As a result, they are very likely not immune. The authors of the paper, physician David Goldsmith and anthropologist Eric Orlowski (University College London), compared the measures taken in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway with the evolution of the virus in each of those Scandinavian “ It is clear, ” concludes lead author David Goldsmith, “ that not only are viral infections, hospitalizations and deaths (per million inhabitants) much higher than those in neighboring Scandinavian countries, but so is the time course of the epidemic in Sweden. is different, with persistently higher infection and mortality rates well beyond the critical several-week period identified in Denmark, Finland and Norway. ”Sweden currently has 83,000 confirmed cases and 5,770 deaths. Given its population size (10 million inhabitants), Sweden currently has one of the highest mortality rates in Europe, with countries that introduced lockdown measures from March onwards, appearing to have had more success initially in limiting the wave of infection, the researchers conclude. But, right away, we can only fully understand the pandemic and the impact of the measures ‘after at least 1 to 2 years’. Only then is ‘an honest assessment’ possible.

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