There is no indication yet that the new omicron variant of the coronavirus causes more serious cases of COVID-19 or with symptoms different from those of previous strains, highlighted the group of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) that studies this latest evolution of SARS-CoV-2.
Although the rate of hospitalizations for COVID-19 has increased in recent days in South Africa, the country where the variant was first detected, “this could be the result of a general increase in those infected, and not just specific infections with the omicron variant “The experts said in a statement.
On the other hand, many of the first reported omicron infections are from college students, “young people who tend to suffer more moderate forms of the disease,” said members of the WHO Expert Advisory Group on Virus Evolution.
The study group insisted that “understanding the level of severity of the omicron variant may take several days or weeks.”
The experts added that the variant appears to increase the risk of reinfection (the possibility that a person who has previously had COVID-19 will contract the disease again), but that “it is not yet clear if it is more contagious” in other cases. .
On the response of anti-COVID treatments, the scientists noted that corticosteroids and interleukin-6 (IL6) antagonists appear to remain effective in critically ill patients, while there are no conclusions yet on the response of existing vaccines to the omicron variant.
The omicron, whose first cases were detected two weeks ago and which worries about the more than 30 mutations that have been identified, was considered a “variant of concern” by the WHO expert group this Friday, which requires special monitoring by laboratories around the world.
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