The omicron data: it is "extremely contagious"

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• Nurse saturated Omicron symptoms: muscle pain, fatigue and headache, but no loss of taste or smell

Data released by the South African Institute of Infectious Diseases, which is monitoring the

wave

in the Pretoria district, suggests that the proportion of people who develop serious illnesses or die is significantly lower than in previous waves of the

, although scientists They noted that the results are preliminary and the situation could change as the wave spreads.

admitted to

hospitals

in the past 25 days required

.

Hospital mortality rates are also significantly lower at this stage.

hospitalized in the past 25 days

, compared with 20% in the previous two waves.

There does not appear to be a correlation between the rate of disease severity or death with age.

"We are only at the beginning but there are positive signs that most of the hospitalized patients are not serious and many of them come to the hospital for other medical reasons and discover with swabs that they are positive for coronavirus" said

minister of health of South Africa.

The consequences of a greater number of infected

According to the data, in the comparison between Delta and Ómicron the

for this latest wave and the percentage of admissions to intensive care is even lower.

However, what emerges from the data from

, the epicenter of the omicron epidemic in South Africa, is that although the

rate

since

Susceptible people is much larger because omicron is "extremely contagious" (estimated to be 500 times larger than the original Wuhan strain).

Therefore, each individual, if vaccinated, is less likely to face serious consequences, but the rapid growth of the total of positives statistically leads to a greater number of hospitalizations with serious

.

Ómicron may appear softer

however

without having changed its virulence, but it

as

, Professor of Biostatistics, specializing in infectious diseases and vaccines at the Rollins School of Public Health

explains on twitter

. "The denominator to calculate severe cases also includes

. With a variant with high reinfection capacity, the severity of the cases has not varied among the susceptible population: it is always severe, moderate, mild, asymptomatic. Only

and, in general, they are not serious.

It is not yet possible to calculate the portion of severe cases, which is now less than the previous waves: but it is not less because there are fewer severe cases, but because there are milder cases with reinfections. "

Super broadcast events

What is worrying is the number of omicron reinfections reported in recent days not only in South Africa but also in the rest of the world with over-broadcast events.

In

, a company Christmas party in a restaurant has become a widespread event:

and in at least 17 cases positive for the omicron variant.

and, with the exception of one person, all had symptoms of a

but none required hospitalization, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Another 60 people who attended the restaurant the same night as the group tested positive, demonstrating the high degree of omicron contagion.

In

, 53 out of 150 high school students who attended a party tested positive.

Laboratory investigations

How much can omicron really avoid the protection of the vaccine? Sure the new variant has shown some evasiveness, but the data is preliminary.

A study published as a preprint last week that looked at 35,670 reinfections among nearly 2.8 million positive tests performed in late November in South Africa suggests that a previous

infection

offers only half the protection against the new variant. This is a sign that

and indicates that Covid-19 vaccines may also be less effective against the new variant.

Other laboratory research shows that two doses of the vaccine are not enough to neutralize

(however, they are enough to prevent serious illness).

The third dose, however, would

.

However, the data is very preliminary and other studies are expected to show a more linear picture in the coming days.

The first field report: bad news

The third dose of the vaccine, however, may not be enough as a report shows, the first from the field, showing

.

The report refers to

who had been to South Africa for business or vacation: median age 27, with

booster vaccine

.

All were infected with omicron and showed

(sore throat, headache, dry cough).

No one needed to go to the hospital.

It worries that their antibody levels were still high and

.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Coronavirus

• Covid 19

• Science and Health

• Omicron variant

• HBPR

SATURATED NURSE Omicron symptoms: muscle pain, fatigue and headache, but no loss of taste or smell

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