Various suspicions about the Omigron infection remain unanswered. But we will have more data in the coming days – WHO
Kaunain Sheriff M
WHOs latest report on Omicron variant: In a new announcement on corona infection last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the impact of the Omicron infection could not be ruled out immediately as the delta variant is already affecting more and more countries around the world. Various suspicions about the Omigron infection remain unanswered. But it also said that we will have more data in the coming days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated four key issues regarding Omigran: their severity, clinical severity, risk of re-infection and potential impact of vaccines.
What impact has the WHO said that Omigron will have on epidemiology?
The World Health Organization says new corona infections are on the rise in South Africa, where the mutation was diagnosed. Between November 29 and December 5, about 62,021 people were infected with corona. This is 111% more than the previous week. Moreover, the corona positive rate was 1.2% on November 7 and is now confirmed at 22.4%.
South Africa’s neighbors Eswatini (1990%), Zimbabwe (1361), Mozambique (1,207%), Namibia (681%) and Lesotho (219%) have seen a recent increase in the spread of the corona infection.
The proportion of people who have been vaccinated against corona is low in these countries. Only 12.1% of the total population in Namibia was fully vaccinated. At the same time the proportion of people who have been vaccinated in Lesotho is 26.7%. The World Health Organization reports that only 25.2% of South Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Although the drivers of these increases are not known, it is believed that the proliferation of Omicron, along with improved testing following the VOC announcement, will play a relaxing and sub-optimal role in public health and community activities (PHSMs).
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that on December 7, omigran cases were detected in 57 countries, according to global data. However, he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Omigran’s earlier in the year.
What is its role in infection?
There is evidence that the development of the currently developed omigran is greater than the mutations already in circulation. But data are needed to determine if it spreads too much infection. This points to the prediction of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Omigran that if 1% of SARS-CoV-2 infections are due to the Omigran variant, it will dominate Europe and account for less than 50% of new infections.
Ongoing and scheduled epidemiological studies, including extensive cluster investigations, contact-tracking and home transmission studies, neutralization studies from previously vaccinated or infected people, and studies on vaccine efficacy will help improve our understanding of increased transmission and escape patterns.
What will be the severity of the disease and the impact on re-infection?
Currently there are only limited data on severity. It is also currently challenging to know if there are any changes in the severity of the disease through the Omigron variant.
As of December 6, the severity of the disease was low and mild, based on data from 212 confirmed patients identified in 18 EU countries.
The South African hospital admission rate has also increased to 82% due to Covit-19. Between 502 and 912 people were admitted between November 28 and December 4. However, the WHO said it was not yet known how many people had been admitted with the Omigron infection.
The WHO has said that even if the severity is equal to or less than the delta variant, hospitalization will increase if more people are affected and the interval between cases and deaths will increase.
In re-infection, preliminary analysis results suggest that mutations in the Omigran variant may reduce the neutralizing activity of antibodies, resulting in reduced protection against natural immunity.
This is why the infection is so prevalent among Africans with high levels of immunity. 35% of adults are currently vaccinated against Govt 19. According to recent epidemiological studies and modeling, it is estimated that seroprevalence levels may be as high as 60-80% due to past infections.
The WHO said early modeling studies from South Africa found a higher risk of re-infection. However, further studies are needed to confirm this, including the potential for variation in Omigran variant, improvements, or severity of re-infection in vaccinated individuals.
How can the Omigron variant affect treatment and vaccines?
The WHO reiterated that interleukin-6 receptor inhibitors and corticosteroids may continue to be effective in the management of patients with acute illness. It also states that additional data are needed to study whether immunizations derived from vaccines and the use of additional vaccine doses can affect vaccine efficacy or reduce their safety.
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