Just when the macrocosm intend it might have COVID-19 under control , the new variant Omicron lead off spreading through the population faster than any stochastic variable seen before . The variant has been reported in 77 country , though is likely in more , many European nation have re - entered lockdown , and other information suggest that Omicron is magnitudes more infectious than both the original COVID-19 strain and Delta .
Now , newfangled preliminaryresearch , currently under equal - inspection , is straighten out just how much more transmissible Omicron is , and the mechanisms that allow it to outcompete delta . The cogitation , led by researchers from the LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong ( HKUMed ) , regain that Omicron may manifold a astounding 70 time quicker than the Delta variant in human airways , which could report for how rapidly Omicron has circulate .
To identify how Omicron is so successful during contagion , the enquiry necessitate the consumption of lung tissue paper removed during lung discussion , which is usually toss . Once the Omicron variation was set apart , the researchers used their tissue cultures to compare how the stochastic variable infect cell and how fast it multiplies post - infection , in both lung and bronchus tissues . Omicron was equate against Delta and the SARS - CoV-2 violent - case that lead off the pandemic in 2020 .
They discovered that Omicron was capable of multiplying rapidly in the bronchus tissues , around 70 times faster than Delta in the bronchus . In demarcation , it was 10 times tiresome than barbaric - type in the lung .
Interestingly , despite the telling viral load Omicron could grow in a brusk amount of clip , it appears to not increase disease rigorousness , with former data suggesting the newfangled stochastic variable may result in less stark disease than other variants . The researchers state this is likely due to disease severity result from a number of factors .
“ It is crucial to note that the severity of disease in humankind is not driven only by virus sound reflection but also by the legion immune response to the transmission , which may moderate to dysregulation of the innate immune system , i.e. ‘ cytokine storm ’ , ” said Dr Michael Chan Chi - wai , who led the squad , in astatement .
“ It is also noted that , by infecting many more people , a very infective computer virus may induce more severe disease and decease even though the virus itself may be less pathogenic . Therefore , acquire together with our recent study showing that the Omicron variance can partially escape immunity from vaccines and retiring contagion , the overall menace from Omicron discrepancy is likely to be very significant . ”
This research is yet to go through peer - review , so is still preliminary . However , coupled with researchpublishedTuesday suggest Omicron may be adequate to of infection with a lower viral dose than both Delta and wild - type , it appear that the mutations Omicron is carrying within the Spike protein enable it to be more transmissible and more infective than previous COVID-19 mental strain , permit it to outcompete them .
However , the scourge of"dual infection"from both the Omicron and Delta chance variable at the same time , lead to the emergence of a new hybrid " super - mutation " variant is low , expert say .
