A study by the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NICD) has shown that South Africans who are catching the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus have an 80% lower risk of hospitalization compared to previous variants.
Some data that the pulmonologist Olga Mediano has prudently wanted to assess. The expert has assured that the study is based on the fact that the omicron variant is milder because it would replicate less in the lung, but has emphasized an important fact: “South Africa has a much younger population than ours, so we will see what happens in other countries. “
In addition, he has called for prudence “because when a virus replicates so much it ends up having many infected“:” It seems that the vaccines are skipped a bit and have the possibility of reinfection, “recalled the expert in More Vale Tarde.
This preliminary work, posted on the medRxiv prepress server and not yet reviewed by other scientists, nevertheless cautions that once an omicron infected person is admitted to the hospital, the risk of death is as up to now with the Delta variant.
The research, led by scientists Nicole Walter and Cheryl Cohen in South Africa, analyzed COVID-19 cases between October 1 and November 30. According to their analysis, omicron infection is linked to a 70% lower risk of serious disease when compared to Delta infections in the South African country between April and November of this year.
Paul Hunter, Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom), has commented that in the study severe disease in people after hospitalization was 0.7, “Which is roughly equivalent to a 30% reduction in the risk of severe disease in hospitalized patients.”
In any case, it points out that the confidence intervals of the study, that is, its margin of error, “were wide, so it cannot be said that the gravity was actually lower in patients hospitalized with omicron “.
Last week, a study led by researchers from the LKS School of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong found that omicron infects and multiplies 70 times faster than Delta and the original SARS-CoV-2 in human bronchi, which may explain why omicron can be transmitted faster between humans than previous variants.
But nevertheless, his work also showed that omicron infection in the lung it is significantly less than that of the original SARS-CoV-2, which may be an indicator of less disease severity. This research is currently in the peer review phase for publication.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
