After the recovery of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, what did his doctor say about the matter that contributed greatly to this recovery?
What is the nature of the food program that Erdogan followed during that period?
The answers are in this report, with details of the new BA 2 Omicron strain.
The booster dose contributed to the president's recovery without problems
And Serkan Topaloğlu, President Erdogan's doctor, announced on Thursday that the results of the Corona smears that were conducted for the president during the last two days turned out to be "negative."
Erdogan recovered from being infected with Covid-19, 5 days after he was diagnosed with the Corona virus.
Topaloğlu said, in a statement to Anadolu Agency, that the president's symptoms of corona had completely ended during the past three days.
He pointed out that Erdogan's receipt of the Corona vaccine greatly contributed to his comfortably and without problems, passing his period of infection.
He continued, "We believe that the vaccine is certainly very effective, since the beginning of the epidemic, our president's position on vaccination has been very clear, as he was one of the first to receive the vaccine in the country, and he also received the reminder (booster) dose as well."
Did Erdogan receive a special food program?
The answer is no, as the doctor indicated that Erdogan did not receive a special food program during the period of his infection with Corona, but rather asked him to drink more fluids only.
Erdogan had received the third dose of the anti-Covid vaccine last June.
According to the French press agency, Topaloğlu, this vaccination allowed the president to overcome this ordeal without problems.
Erdogan had received two doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine and a third dose of the German-American Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, according to the German news agency.
According to official statistics, 52.5 million people in Turkey received the second dose of the vaccine, and more than 25 million people received their third dose.
PA2 is more rapidly spreading than Omicron
Under the title "We regret to inform you that we are now discussing sub-mutants. PA2 is a rapidly spreading mutant of Omicron.. Here is what we know," according to what Umair Irfan wrote in the American "VOX" website.
A new sub-strain of the Omicron mutant has emerged called PA2 that appears to be spreading more rapidly than any other strain of COVID-19.
The writer says that the good news for the time being that vaccines still provide protection against this sub-mutant.
But because it's so contagious, scientists are racing to see what damage it can cause.
The original omicron mutant - which scientists call BA1 or B1.1.529 (B.1.1.529) until recently - was the most prevalent mutant, and caused significant increases in the number of new cases of many diseases. the countries.
But we currently know that the mutated sub-strain of it "PA2" can spread faster, and may soon become the dominant version of the virus.
According to the World Health Organization, this sub-mutant has already been detected in at least 69 countries, including the United States.
"BA2 is more spreadable than BA1, so we expect the number of cases to increase around the world," said Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's COVID-19 technical team, during a press conference on Tuesday.
invisible omicron
This sub-mutant contains about 20 mutations that distinguish it from the original mutant.
Troublesome, however, is that it does not contain a mutation that distinguishes omicron from other mutants in PCR tests, so it is difficult to distinguish it from, say, a delta mutant.
This is why some researchers have called it the "hidden omicron".
Routine COVID-19 tests can detect when a person has been infected with a sub-omicron.
"You don't know what to look for, whether it's PA1 or PA2 or a completely different mutation," says Gregory Poland, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic.
As a result, identification of PA2 infection usually requires more extensive genetic sequencing, and in parts of the world where this procedure is less common, the sub-mutant may spread undetected.
Unsurprisingly, the Covid-19 virus continues to evolve, as the more people infected, the greater the chances of it mutating.
With omicron infection peaking in many countries, the sub-mutant may not lead to new significant increases in the number of infections.
But some estimates suggest its transmissibility is about 1.5 times that of an omicron, which could slow the decline in the number of cases.
The slow receding of the Omicron wave may be attributed to countries easing restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the epidemic, such as allowing the resumption of gatherings and lifting restrictions on wearing face masks, but these measures may make the situation worse.
The 'Omicron invisible' strain is spreading rapidly
Viruses like COVID-19 mutate all the time as they multiply.
When the virus acquires enough distinct mutations, it becomes mutated.
But if the changes are not drastic, the mutated virus may be described as a subtype, such as PA2.
Denmark experienced a rapid spread of the sub-mutant to account for half of all COVID-19 cases by the end of January, although more than 80% of the population had completed the first doses of vaccination while more than 60% had received the booster dose.
The peak of infections in this country was about 45,000 new cases on January 27.
As researcher Fredrik Plesner Lings, from the University of Copenhagen, says, Omicron fueled the recent wave of Covid-19 in part because it is able to evade some of the immune system's defenses.
Vaccines are effective in reducing the spread of PA2 infection.
Vaccines remain effective in reducing the spread of PA2 infection and lowering rates of serious disease.
It was found that this sub-mutant spread widely among those who had not received a vaccination against Covid-19.
Several countries have already seen a very sharp increase in the number of omicron cases, followed by a similar sharp decline.
But the incidence of the sub-mutant can prolong the omicron wave in some countries.
If you are infected with the original omicron mutant, will you get the sub?
Scientists are still trying to determine the reasons for the rapid spread of the omicron sub-mutant.
Many PA2 mutations are in the parts of the virus that the immune system normally targets, so mutations that hide those parts allow the pathogen to evade the immune system's defenses.
However, it is not clear whether this sub-mutant is different enough to cause reinfection in those infected with omicron.
In other words, if you are infected with the original omicron mutant, scientists will not know if you will develop the sub-mutant.
These questions are not easy to answer, in part because scientists cannot predict changes in the virus just by studying changes in the virus's genetic code or physical structure.
Important mysteries about the hidden Omicron that must be solved
In mutants like delta and omicron, the mutations interact together, increasing their transmissibility beyond what any single mutation can cause, Poland says.
Mutants represent more than just a group of mutations, and scientists must study them in the real world to understand how they work to stop and treat infection.
Another mystery is the source of the sub-mutant, which may have existed since the beginning of the Omicron, or may have branched off from it shortly after it began to spread widely.
Omicron itself has no known direct ancestor, for example it is not a direct descendant of the delta or beta mutant, and its genome appears to come from a very distant branch of the SARS-CoV-2 virus family.
The emergence of the omicron sub-mutant is a reminder of our need to enhance our vigilance
Some scientists hypothesize that Omicron and its sub-mutants may have had an animal host before being transmitted to humans.
Others believe the evidence points to a rare type of mutation known as recombination, in which an individual is infected with two copies of the virus at the same time, resulting in the production of an entirely different mutation.
It may also be the result of a person having an infection whose body is unable to fight the virus quickly, giving the virus longer than usual time to multiply and mutate and enhance its resistance to the immune system.
Overall, figuring out how mutations persist can help prevent new ones from emerging, or at least help scientists know where to look so they're ready.
The emergence of the omicron submutant is another reminder of the need to strengthen our vigilance against COVID-19, even when cases are declining.