Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : December 14, 2021 4:14 PM IST
Omicron
Do not underestimate Omicron - Experts have been warning people as the new variant of concern continues to spread globally. Now, Britain has confirmed the first death with Omicron variant. Addressing media persons on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Omicron is responsible for about 40 per cent of the COVID cases in London and hospital admissions were rising. He also confirmed that one patient has died due to Omicron.
How dangerous is Omicron? COVID survivors and those who are vaccinated, will have some, 'stronger than basic' defence against this new strain of concern, stated a new study published in Emerging Microbes & Infection. However, the authors warned that it 'exceeds' all other variants in its potential capability to evade the protection gained from previous infection or COVID-19 vaccination. The study, conducted by an expert team of 11 scientists, verifies the enhanced immune escape of Omicron variant. Preliminary findings in South Africa also suggested that Omicron was "easy to evade immunity."
Omicron is believed to be the most heavily mutated version of coronavirus found so far. According to the study's lead author Youchun Wang, the large number of mutations of Omicron did cause significant changes of neutralization sensitivity against people who were previously infected with COVID, but the average protection level against the virus is still higher than the baseline. Wang, a Senior Research Fellow from the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control in China, still cautioned that Omicron 'may be able to escape immunity even better' as the antibody protection -- in the form of previous infection or vaccination -- decreases gradually over a period of six months.
The study predicted that while 'a third-dose enhancement strategy can significantly boost immunity', the 'protection from Omicron may be compromised'. For the study, the scientists collected 28 serum samples from patients recovering from the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and tested them against in-vitro Omicron samples, and four other 'variants of concern' and two 'variants of interest'.
The team highlighted the urgent need for real-world studies to better understand Omicron, and whether it can escape from vaccine protection to cause more severe disease and death.
(With inputs from Agencies"
