![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) # Wrong conclusion about research into the transfer of the delta variant vaccinated people 10.9.2021, 18:00 (CEST) A study from the prestigious University of Oxford is said to have shown that vaccinated people still become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus 251 times carry more viral load than unvaccinated people. In other words, they would are much more contagious. The study would have appeared in the leading newspaper medical journal The Lancet. The news is shared on Facebook (like archived here) and was also picked up by websites like Xander and Dissident One (archived here and here). ## Judgement The study is real, but the conclusions drawn from it are wrong. The researchers concluded that the cases of a breakthrough infection with the delta variant had a 251 times higher viral load than infections with the other variants in the spring of 2020 circulated. So it is not about the contagiousness of the delta variant about the relative difference between (un)vaccinated people. ## Facts The study actually exists and is currently a preprint that appeared in The Lancet. This means that it has not yet been subjected to peer review. The paper relies on doctors and researchers affiliated with the hospital tropical diseases and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It studies breakthrough infections in healthcare workers in that hospital. They contracted an infection vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine. The conclusion: the delta variant ensures a higher viral load than others variants, even in people who have already been vaccinated. The viral load is the number of virus particles present in the collected sample and indicates the contagiousness. So it is the contagiousness of the delta variant what is being written about and not a difference in contagiousness between vaccinated and unvaccinated. The authors of the study also confirmed this in a press release after their study paper was used to draw incorrect conclusions. Claim that infected vaccinees carry 251 times more viral load than unvaccinated people is a "misrepresentation of the data", they say. But what exactly does that data say? In the hospital with 900 employees 69 healthcare workers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination. By 62 of them took part in the study. Of that group, 23 became complete genome sequence that confirmed they were infected with the delta variant. It was also noted that the viral load was 251 times higher were then the viral loads present in infections in March and April 2020. In short, it is wrong to cite the study as evidence that vaccinated people who still become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus are much more contagious than those who have not been vaccinated. (State of play: 10/09/2021) ## Left Facebook post (archived) Dissident One (archived) Xandernieuws (archived) Preprint of the study in The Lancet (archived) Preprint of the study - complete Press release about misinformation surrounding the study (archived) About the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (archived) Health and Science on contagiousness, viral load and delta variant (archived) Contact the dpa fact check team: factcheck-netherlands@dpa.com powered by dpa-newslab | Imprint | Privacy | About:
A study from Oxford University published in The Lancet shows that vaccinated people carry a 251 times higher viral load than unvaccinated people