What diseases that fatigue may indicate infection?

And what factors may increase the chances of developing a long-term covid?

What is the latest data about the emergence of Omicron?

And with the decline of the Omikron wave, is the Corona epidemic over?

The answers are in this comprehensive report.

What diseases that fatigue may indicate infection?

Feeling tired may be a symptom of a number of diseases, including coronavirus infection and endocrine diseases.

 In a report published by the Russian newspaper "Izvestia", writer Nikolai Barataev says that feeling tired after spending a hard day is a natural thing that happens to any person, but constant fatigue for no apparent reason may hide a health problem behind it.

Also, a constant feeling of fatigue may be a symptom of infection with the Omicron mutant from the Corona virus.

Fatigue is one of the main symptoms of Omicron

Doctors believe that under the current conditions that people are going through, it is difficult to determine whether fatigue is linked to infection with the Corona virus, or is it a remnant of daily stress.

In addition to fatigue, British experts confirm that muscle pain and loss of appetite, as well as diarrhea and nausea, are characteristic symptoms of Omicron's infection.

And the site quoted researchers involved in monitoring the statistics of the “ZOE Covid” application, that pediatricians in Britain had noticed the recurrence of the problem of feeling tired in children with Omicron.

Experts in Bangladesh have observed similar symptoms, as the spokesperson for the General Department of Health, Nazmol Islam, confirmed that 64% of those infected with the Omicron strain of the emerging coronavirus complain of feeling tired, while about 73% suffer from a runny nose, and about 68% have a headache.

Other diseases

The writer adds that the constant feeling of fatigue does not only mean the possibility of infection with the Corona virus, but also indicates other diseases.

Endocrinologist Victoria Sadovskaya says that chronic fatigue may be a syndrome in itself, or a symptom of a number of diseases.

Chronic fatigue may indicate serious illnesses such as hypothyroidism, iron deficiency anemia, adrenal insufficiency, and tuberculosis.

People with depression often complain of feeling tired.

Sadovskaya explains that her own statistics show that 18% of her chronically tired patients actually have hypothyroidism.

She adds, "The continuation of feeling tired, after following a specific treatment and taking a period of rest, requires consulting an endocrinologist, to describe the condition, identify additional symptoms, and evaluate the external appearance, such as skin color, mucous membranes, areas of hyperpigmentation or hair loss, and measuring blood pressure."


4 factors that may increase the chances of developing a long-term Covid

A team of researchers who followed more than 200 patients for 2-3 months after they were diagnosed with COVID-19 report that they have identified biological factors that may help predict whether a person will develop long-term COVID-19, according to a report in The New York Times. The New York Times by Pam Bullock.

And the long-term corona syndrome is a group of symptoms that persist with a person infected with the Corona virus for more than 4 weeks, and more than 200 symptoms have been counted, affecting more than 9 organs in the body and lasting for a year for some people, according to what Dr. Mays Absi, a specialist, said. Epidemiology at the Royal University of London in previous statements to Al Jazeera Net.

A study published in the journal Cell found that there are 4 factors that can be identified at an early stage of COVID-19 infection that are associated with an increased risk of long-term symptoms.

The researchers reported that the results may reveal ways to prevent long-term Covid infection or treat some conditions, including the possibility of administering antiviral drugs soon after the infection is diagnosed.

"This discovery is the first real, serious attempt to devise some biological mechanisms to combat the long-term condition of Covid," said Dr. Stephen Dicks, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.

He and other experts, along with the study's authors, cautioned that the findings were only exploratory and should be verified by more research.

The four factors are:

  • The level of coronavirus RNA present in the blood early in the infection, which is an indicator of viral load.

  • The presence of some autoantibodies, which are antibodies that mistakenly attack tissues in the body, such as in the case of lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.

  • Epstein-Barr virus reactivation, a virus that infects most people, often when they are young, and the virus usually remains dormant inside the body.

  • Having type 2 diabetes.


Interesting facts about the origin of Omicron

In a report published by the "New York Times", writer Mark Zimmer says that an international team of scientists said in a study published online in the biorxiv website, that among the 53 mutations in the omicron mutant, there are 13 unique mutations, the like of which are rarely found in corona viruses. other.

The 13 mutations should have weakened Omicron, but the scientists found that they seemed to work in concert to strengthen it.

That's why researchers are trying to figure out how omicron evolved and use these mutations to become a successful vector for the disease.

The writer explains that mutations are a regular part of the Corona virus, so every time a virus reproduces inside a cell, there is a small chance that the cell will create a defective copy of its genes, so many of these mutations will make the new viruses defective and unable to compete with other viruses.

The writer continues that mutations may be a developer of the virus, for example, they can make it stick to cells in a more effective way, or make it multiply more.

Scientists have found different strains of the Corona virus around the world, which gradually picked up a number of mutations over the course of 2020, until it appeared in December of that year, the alpha mutant, which shocked the British researchers who discovered it, as it carried 23 mutations that were not present in the Wuhan virus. the original.

The writer adds that over the course of 2021, many other fast-spreading mutant appeared, but they remained limited to certain countries or continents, until the Delta mutant appeared, which carried 20 distinct mutations to it from its predecessor, and overthrew Alpha and spread rapidly during the summer, and in the end Omicron came with this The huge number of mutations.

Darren Martin, a virologist at the University of Cape Town, and a number of international scientists have been studying the phylogenetic structure of omicron by comparing its 53 mutations with those of other coronaviruses.

Martin and colleagues found that omicrons, deltas and other mutant have common mutations, but observed a very different pattern at the level of the spike protein, which is found on the surface of the omicron and allows it to stick to cells.

They discovered that Spike Omicron alone contains 30 mutations, 13 of which are rare in other Corona viruses, even those that infect bats, and some of them have not been observed by scientists since the start of the pandemic.

The writer points out that if the mutation is beneficial to the virus or even neutral, scientists expect it to appear - often - in samples, but if it is rare or completely new, this is usually a sign that it is harmful to the virus and prevents it from reproducing.

But the Omicron mutant defies this logic, as Dr. Martin warns that "Omicron is just the beginning of something we've never seen before."

What makes these thirteen mutations distinctive - according to the study - is that they are not randomly distributed by the "spike omicron" protein, but rather are distributed into three groups, each of which has a role in changing a small part of the protein, which together makes the omicron's unique performance.

The author says that two of these three groups change the “spike” protein at the ends, which makes it difficult for human antibodies to catch the virus and keep it away from cells, and this explains the ability of the Omicron mutant to infect vaccinated people.

He adds that the third group is responsible for changing the "spike" protein at the base, which is the region known as the fusion domain, which viruses use to fuse with the cell membrane so that the virus enters its genes into the depths of the cell through this region.

But Omicron does something different. The virus gets all the way inside the cell to form a bubble inside, and then the virus opens that bubble and releases its genes.

 The author argues that this third group of mutations may explain why omicron is less lethal than the delta mutant: the bubble mechanism may work with cells in the upper airway, but deep in the lungs their cells need a surface fusion mechanism, which is What Omicron lacks.

He explains that the discovery of these 13 mutations, and how Omicron took advantage of them, may give us a glimpse into the origin of this mutation.

According to one possibility, this mutation originated in the body of a person with weakened immunity, as is the case with people with HIV "AIDS".

"An immunocompromised host does not produce many antibodies, leaving many viruses to spread, and new mutated viruses that resist the antibodies multiply," says Serge Bond, an evolutionary biologist at Temple University and author of the new study.

According to the study authors, the mutation that allows the virus to avoid antibodies is not necessarily beneficial, as it may make the “spike” protein unstable, which prevents it from attaching quickly to the cell.

But when a person with a weakened immune system is infected, the viruses may be able to acquire a new mutation.

Dr. Bond believes that similar mutations can develop over and over in the same person, until Omicron develops the "spike" protein with the right mix of mutations that allows it to spread widely among healthy people.

“It certainly seems plausible,” said Sarah Otto, an evolutionary biologist at the University of British Columbia, who was not involved in the study, but also believes that scientists still need to conduct experiments to rule out alternative explanations.

The Omicron wave has passed, but Corona is not over

The US is likely to have passed the peak of the omicron wave, with a decline in the number of cases recorded in the most populous states, and if the same pattern is followed by South Africa and Britain, it may be possible to control the outbreak within a month.

In this article - which was published by the "Washington Post" newspaper - the Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, Ashish K.

Jha, we may witness in the coming months the easing of restrictions and a return to normalcy.

But there are no indications to believe that the epidemic is nearing an end.


In the first place, the delta mutant may re-circulate, although this possibility is unlikely, along with Omicron, to continue outbreaks of infections and hospitalizations.

Whether or not the delta mutant re-emerges, cases are likely to remain seasonal.

This means the possibility of a sudden wave of infection in the southern states this summer, and the northern states in the coming fall and winter with lower temperatures.

Furthermore, a new mutant that is more infectious or more lethal may emerge.

The writer believes that we will enter a period of uncertainty with the end of the Omicron wave.

Even with the decrease in the number of infections, it is difficult to predict the sudden mutations that could occur as a result of the outbreak of the current mutated strains or new mutant ones in the future, which requires full preparation in the coming months, through the following:

  • Intensify efforts to reach unvaccinated citizens.

  • Provide a sufficient number of corona tests.

  • Providing adequate doses of new treatments from Pfizer and Merck along with monoclonal antibodies and other antivirals, which should be the cornerstone of infection management during future outbreaks.