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COVID In 2022: Our New Understandings Of The Viral Sickness

The severity of the disease and for how long it will impact a person has become an individual assessment and cannot be generalized anymore

Written by Kashish Sharma | Updated : December 28, 2022 4:08 PM IST

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Learnings This Year

COVID-19 is far from over. Every year our understanding of the disease is getting better. However, the viral illness is full of surprises. The year 2022 started with a new COVID wave initiated by the variant Omicron which has been called a variant of concern by the WHO. For a long time, sub-variant BA.5 was the most dominant subvariant globally. The latest COVID surge in the countries like China, Japan, Germany, and others has raised concern about the new virulent sub-variant BF.7 Looking at the promising side, there are some new understandings of the illness.

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We Understand Long-COVID

The severity of the disease and for how long it will impact a person has become an individual assessment and cannot be generalized. We now acknowledge the fact that for some the encounter with COVID has changed their life in a significant way. As per CDC, 19 per cent who had contracted COVID in previous waves were experiencing long COVID in 2022. People have been suffering from conditions like weakened smell sensations, frequent infections, sleep problems, brain fog and other symptoms. Also Read - Skyscraper singer Demi Lovato opens up about eating disorder recovery: Coping tips that make a difference

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Intranasal Vaccines Can Nip The Bud

Many new studies have shown that intranasal vaccines can provide sterilizing immunity to both the upper and lower respiratory tract. While intramuscular vaccines can initiate a systematic response, targeting the virus at the entry point (nasal passage) can prevent the progression of the pathogen to the lower respiratory tract, reducing the risk of hospitalization and serious illness. Lately, the nasal vaccine, iNCOVACC, was introduced on the CoWIN platform last week.

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Hybrid Immunity Can Be The New Way

Amid the backfiring of China’s Zero-COVID policy, there is an increasing understanding of herd or hybrid immunity that might be essential in the fight against virulent sickness. This immunity is a combination of natural infection and vaccination and is immunologically superior to infection-induced or vaccine-induced immunity alone. This might also suggest a strong focus on the vaccination drive and lesser extreme protective measures. Also Read - Women’s cardiovascular disease to rise sharply by 2050 - Cardiologist shares revention blueprint every woman needs

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Pandemic Turning Into An Endemic?

With different countries experiencing the illness and its aftermath differently, many experts are suspecting that COVID-19 might transform from a pandemic into an endemic. It might become manageable and easy to contain but it will increase the disease burden of the world.