What we know about omicron
The new variant first appeared in South Africa. Its occurrence in several European countries, including the Czech Republic, has now been confirmed. The first case omicronu appeared in the Czech Republic at the end of November 2021. This 60-year-old coronavirus mutation infected a 60-year-old woman from Liberec, probably in Namibia, from where she arrived.
However, this mutation has already prevailed in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom. During the Christmas holidays, Britain saw record increases in the number of infectious omicrons several times.
However, not only in Britain, omicron spread rapidly, but also in Sweden. It is spreading rapidly there mainly in urban areas. Researchers estimate that they account for half or more cases of infection in areas such as the capital Stockholm. In the Czech Republic, it is still over thirty percent, in some regions (for example in Prague), but it is much more.
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Coronavirus: omicron mutation • VIDEO Videohub
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What is worrying is that omicron shows a number of mutations. In the so-called spike protein, it has 26 unique ones, while the previous one delta she had ten and beta six. Other omicron mutations have been observed previously, and experts fear that this variant could theoretically link the high infectivity of the delta to the ability of beta to bypass vaccine-induced immunity.
Omicron infectivity
It’s Omicron more contagious than the alpha mutation, which caused many deaths in the Czech Republic in the spring of 2021, and hospitals ran out of beds because of it, or the delta mutation, which spread later and was even more contagious. Because the omicron variant is even more infectious than the two mentioned, experts warn that it will be in at one point quarantine or isolating many times more people than in the biggest waves so far covid epidemic. This can jeopardize the functioning of the economy and society.
The reason why omicron is about three times more contagious than the still prevalent delta variant is, among other things, that it has infected more virus in the upper respiratory tract and infects someone else more easily.
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At the same time, this variant should have a shorter incubation period, which is estimated at three days. The delta variant took four to five days. Incubation time is generally defined as the period from self-infection to the development of symptoms.
Symptoms of omicron
The original mutations were relatively easy to detect as Covid-19. The symptoms were more specific. Infected people often lost their sense of smell and taste, had a cough and a stuffy nose, their joints and whole body ached. However, according to scientists, the symptoms of the omicron mutation are not so different from the common cold, ie cough, fatigue, stuffy nose and exhaustion.
The course of the disease itself depends mainly on whether the individual has been vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. If so, scientists agree that the course should be mild. The mutation itself should not be so dangerous precisely because the virus probably stays mainly in the nasopharynx and does not infect so many lungs, which would cause a more difficult course.
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One of the scenarios further development the pandemic anticipates that the omikron variant will push out all other variants and the pandemic will become “something like the flu.” It could be so end of pandemic. “The scenario is that the omicron is spreading faster than the delta. And just as delta pushed out the alpha or alpha of the previous variant, so omicron could push out all other variants and be the only one, “said Jan Pačes from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR.
Omicron and vaccinations
The omicron mutation is probably more resistant to vaccination than previous mutations. Vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech are less effective, especially in people who are six months or more after vaccination. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine has even shown that it doesn’t work on the mutation at all after a long time. Therefore, states began to introduce a third, booster dose of the vaccine. The Czechia is no exception.
Nevertheless, the vaccinees show a milder course. Those who have already received third dose, are protected against heavy course even better.
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Omicron and antigen tests
To the Czech Republic in connection with new wave of measures returns a greater commitment antigen tests, which the previous government lagged behind at the end of last year. Researchers from the Elisabeth Pharmacon laboratory in Brno have found that antigenic tests do not always detect the omicron mutation. According to them, some tests can detect only a third of cases infected with omicron. According to scientists, it is a question of test sensitivity, when they can detect positivity only in the 28th cycle and higher.
