OMICRON INFECTS 70 TIMES FASTER BUT IS LESS SEVERE, EARLY STUDY SAYS

Thu 16 December 2021:

According to a new study, the novel omicron COVID-19 variation multiplies 70 times faster in human airways than the delta variant.

“The researchers found that Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and original SARS-CoV-2 in human bronchus, which may explain why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than previous variants,” a press release by the research team at Hong Kong University said.

However, the much higher rate of multiplication may explain why it spreads so quickly from person-to-person.

When omicron reaches lung tissues, it replicates 10 times slower than the original type of COVID-19, which could lead to less severe sickness, according to the Hong Kong researchers.

“‘It is important to note that the severity of disease in humans is not determined only by virus replication but also by the host immune response to the infection,” the lead scientists Dr. Michael Chan Chi-wai said.

He added: “It is also noted that, by infecting many more people, a very infectious virus may cause more severe disease and death even though the virus itself may be less pathogenic.”

“Therefore, taken together with our recent studies showing that the omicron variant can partially escape immunity from vaccines and past infection, the overall threat from omicron variant is likely to be very significant,” Chan added.

The findings of the study are still being peer reviewed for publication.

The WHO has designated omicron, which was discovered in South Africa last month, to be a variant of concern. Apart from its great transmissibility, which led to travel restrictions around the world in an attempt to curb its spread, little is known about the variant.

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