Scientists in Hong Kong say the omicron variant of the coronavirus multiplies a lot quicker within the airway passages, which might clarify how the variant is spreading so quick across the globe.
A preliminary report by a crew of researchers on the College of Hong Kong says laboratory experiments on tissue samples present omicron grows about 70 occasions quicker than delta within the bronchus, the principle tubes from the windpipe to the lungs.
The examine additionally discovered that omicron grows 10 occasions slower in lung tissues than the unique model, which might point out a decrease likelihood of a extreme sickness.
Lead researcher Michael Chan Chi-wai cautions that the severity of illness will not be solely decided by how shortly the virus replicates, but in addition by every particular person’s immune response to the an infection, which might evolve right into a life-threatening sickness.
Dr. Chan provides that “by infecting many extra individuals, a really infectious virus could trigger extra extreme illness and demise although the virus itself could also be much less pathogenic.”
He says together with latest research exhibiting omicron can “partially escape immunity” from vaccines and former an infection, “the general menace from the omicron variant is prone to be very important.”
Omicron has now been detected in practically 80 international locations because it was first recognized in southern Africa again in November. Indonesia and New Zealand are the most recent international locations to report their first confirmed case of the virus.
On the vaccine entrance, an advisory panel with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention will meet Thursday to debate imposing limits on the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to continued uncomfortable side effects.
The vaccine has been linked to a uncommon but severe blood clotting dysfunction that happens predominantly amongst girls. Not less than six girls out of the 16 million U.S. residents who’ve acquired the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been recognized with the dysfunction, together with one girl who died.
The blood clotting dysfunction first emerged in April, quickly after the vaccine started to be administered throughout the U.S., prompting federal well being officers to droop its use for a number of days whereas a security evaluation was performed. Regulators added a warning in regards to the potential for blood clots on the vaccine’s label, however concluded that its advantages outweighed the dangers.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine trails nicely behind the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines when it comes to demand, each as an preliminary dose or a booster shot.
Some info for this report got here from Reuters.
