Omicron infects the throat more than the lungs and therefore, while being much more transmissible, it is less lethal than other SarsCov2 mutations.
The Guardian writes it analyzing six recent international studies on the variant.
“It seems more capable of infecting the throat where it would multiply more easily than in cells deep in the lung. These are preliminary results, but the studies point in the same direction ”, reads the British newspaper.
The hypothesis that Omicron multiplies more in the throat would make it more transmissible and thus explain the very rapid spread of the virus compared to mutations such as Delta and Alpha, which attack the lungs but are less transmissible.
According to a study by the University of Liverpool Molecular Virology Research Group, Omicron leads to "less severe disease" in mice, with lower viral loads and less severe pneumonia. Animal studies suggest that the disease "is less severe than Delta and the original Wuhan virus, appears to be cleared faster, and the animals recovered more quickly."
Similar results were observed on hamsters by the Neyts Lab of the University of Leuven in Belgium.
On the vaccine front, Omicron - notes the Center for Research on Viruses of the University of Glasgow - would basically be able to evade immunity after two doses but with the booster there is "a partial restoration of immunity".
Other studies from the University of Hong Kong and Cambridge also show less Omicron infection in the lungs. While the University College of London reports that many swabs carried out only in the nose gave negative results, while if repeated even with a sample in the throat they were positive.
(Unioneonline / L)
