Omicron infects 70 times faster but may cause less severe disease: Study

The Omicron variant of coronavirus infects and multiplies 70 times faster than Delta and the original COVID19 strain but the severity of illness is likely to be much lower according to a studyThe yettobe peerreviewed study provides the first information on how the novel variant of concern infects human respiratory tractThe researchers from University of Hong Kong found that Omicron infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and original SARSCoV2 in human bronchus which may explain why it may transmit faster between humans than previous variantsA bronchus is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungsThe study also showed that the Omicron infection in the lung is significantly lower than the original SARSCoV2 which may indicate lower disease severityThe researchers used exvivo cultures of the respiratory tract to understand why Omicron may differ in transmission and disease severity from other SARSCoV2 variantsThis method uses lung tissue removed for treatment of the lung which is normally discarded for investigating viral diseases of the respiratory tractMichael Chan Chiwai Associate Professor at University of Hong Kong and his team successfully isolated Omicron and compared infection from the variant with the original SARSCoV2 from 2020 and the Delta variantThe team found that the Omicron replicates faster than the original SARSCoV2 virus and Delta variant in the human bronchusAlso read Four more cases of Omicron cases detected in Delhi Health Minister Satyendar JainAt 24 hours after infection the Omicron variant replicated around 70 times higher than the Delta variant and the original SARSCoV2 virus the researchers saidOmicron replicated less efficiently over 10 times lower in the human lung tissue than the original SARSCoV2 virus which may suggest lower severity of disease they saidIt 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 which may lead to dysregulation of the innate immune system Chan said in a statementIt 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 he explainedTaken together with the recent studies that showed Omicron can partially escape immunity from vaccines and past infection the overall threat from the variant is likely to be very significant the researchers addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever