Experts, Omicron is the most contagious virus in history
Omicron is the virus with the fastest propagation in history: this is stated by Roby Bhattacharyya, infectious disease specialist at the General Hospital in Massachusetts, who, to make people understand the speed with which this variant of the coronavirus propagates, made a comparison with one of the most communicable viruses known , that of measles. Spotted just a few weeks ago in South Africa, Omicron is already the most popular variant across much of the world. “This is an incredibly rapid spread,” he comments, quoted by El Pais, and then explains this speed by comparing it with measles, which is normally very contagious.
A person affected by this infectious disease, unvaccinated, infects an average of 15 other people; one affected by Omicron infects 6, according to the latest studies. But the difference is in the timing of the infection: measles needs 12 days on average, but Omicron only needs 4 or 5. “A case of measles produces another 15 in 12 days, a case of Omicron produces 6 in four days; in eight days he produced 36, 216 in 12 days ”, summarized Bhattacharyya.
Even the medical historian and physician Anton Erkoreka declares himself amazed at the speed with which Omicron spreads. “It is the most explosive virus and the fastest spreading virus in history,” he says. Erkoreka, director of the Basque Museum of the History of Medicine, recalls that the black plague of the 14th century and the cholera of the 19th century – caused by bacteria – took years to spread around the world.
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