A series of recently published studies found that the Omicron variant may be less severe than other strains of coronavirus due to the way it attacks the lungs, it reported Friday.
Studies in mice and hamsters found that Omicron caused less damage to the lungs, being largely limited to the nose, throat, and trachea. New York times mentioned.
Previous variants were causing scarring of the lungs and serious breathing difficulties.
“It’s fair to say that the idea of disease that manifests itself mainly in the upper respiratory tract is emerging,” said Roland Eels, a computational biologist at the Berlin Institute of Health who has studied how coronaviruses infect the airways.
Ravindra Gupta, a leading diversity researcher at the University of Cambridge and author of one of the studies, said: inside This Omicron “is doing its own thing in many ways. The biology of the virus is not what it used to be. It’s almost a new thing.”
One study found that levels of Omicron in the lungs were one-tenth or less of the level of other variables.
Several experiments published in recent days have pointed to the conclusion that Omicron is milder than Delta and other previous versions of the virus, according to real-world data.
The studies were published online in preprint format, which means they have not been peer-reviewed by other scientists and have been published in scientific journals.
Scientists at the African Institute for Health Research in Durban, South Africa, work on an Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, December 15, 2021 (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Omicron was first identified in South Africa and Botswana in late November. The strain quickly became dominant in South Africa, causing the infection to spread and peaked at around 26,000 daily cases reported in mid-December, according to official statistics.
The variant is currently present in more than 100 countries, according to the World Health Organization, and affects both vaccinated people and those already infected with the coronavirus.
Several studies suggest that Omicron, the strain now prevalent in some countries, has a lower risk of hospitalization, but the World Health Organization still urges caution.
“The overall risk related to the new strain of concern, Omicron, remains very high,” the United Nations World Health Organization said.
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