Omicron infection might look like a common cold, when to isolate or get tested?
The cold and rainy seasons (which in Colombia are between December and February) tend to trigger more flu symptoms. This is so because, among several factors, there are environmental conditions that make it easier for viruses to stay active longer in the air.
It has always been this way, but the presence of omicron in the country (and in the context of a global pandemic) establishes other determinations, especially since it is presumed that this new variant, which is much more contagious, would cause symptoms closer to those of a common flu (with it there would be no loss of smell and taste, for example), which can create confusion in the diagnosis and thus making it more important to resort to detection tests and isolation.
In this sense, and in order to avoid risks and increases in localized cases, for the doctor Juan Carlos Cataño, infectologist and teacher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Antioquia, today “anyone who has similar respiratory symptoms a flu can have covid-19 until proven otherwise “.
The latter should not generate panic or rejection, but if it is your case, you should implement preventive isolation while you have the opportunity to take a test or a maximum of 13 days have passed since the symptoms began.
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Reach out to change everything
Ómicron is still a recent discovery, however, there are already in vitro (in laboratories) and in vivo (among communities) studies that have yielded preliminary results.
According to the World Health Organization, the variant is more transmissible, or more contagious, than the others. María Angélica Maya, infectologist and president of the Colombian Association of Infectology, in conversation with EL COLOMBIANO on Instagram, pointed out that although the calculations are not definitive yet, if a person with delta could infect almost 8 more people, someone with omicron can infect 10 or even 15 more, because the mutations they have in the protein spike (or the spicule) have given it advantages to replicate more efficiently, especially in the nasal route.
Likewise, it has been theorized that its symptoms tend to be less severe compared to the severe clinical pictures associated with other variants. This is because, among other things, explains María Cristina Navas Navas, PhD in Virology, laboratory studies have shown that the variant is less efficient replicating in the lung, that is, before omicron, SARS-CoV-2 was replicated (or “Reproduced”) in the mouth, nose, larynx and pharynx to then pass to the lungs. With the new variant, the virus would not pass to this vital organ, which means that one of the actions that guarantee life would not be compromised: breathing.
On the other hand, the loss of the sense of smell and taste has also been less frequent, he continues, because the infection “would not be affecting the nervous system that irrigates the nasal mucosa.”
Finally, in vitro it has been observed that when omicron is grown in cell lines, it grows more slowly and is not as aggressive towards cells. “Under the microscope the morphological changes that the cells have (cytopathic effect) are observed and omicron would cause less this effect than delta”.
Despite these preliminary findings, Navas cautions that this does not mean that serious illness cannot occur from omicron or other variants. Biological variability, that is, the particularities of each individual also have an impact on the outcome of the clinical picture, for example, it has to do with having chronic diseases or deficiencies in the immune system.
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How long to wait?
If you have any type of flu symptoms (headache, cough, general malaise, nasal congestion, fever, among others), you can request a covid-19 test soon.
As you already have obvious signs, you can do it without waiting additional time. “Although the PCR test (see To learn more) reaches its maximum efficiency on the fifth day from the onset of symptoms, it is not convenient to wait to avoid risks and because in any case it is so sensitive that from the first day it works very well” , points out Francis Javier Díaz, a virologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Antioquia.
Something different is if you had contact with someone positive, but does not show obvious symptoms. In that case, you have to wait 5 to 7 days (or sooner if you have signs) to take the test, regardless of whether it is CRP or antigen.
Now, the antigen test, says the teacher, is very good at detecting if you are being contagious to other people (regardless of whether you have symptoms or not), and the PCR, he says, is good for all occasions, except because it can continue to test positive even weeks after being infected, when you are no longer contagious and can lead a normal life (see To learn more).
With this information, the infectologist Cataño agrees and adds that, if despite having symptoms, your test comes out negative, it is best to stay at home in isolation so as not to spread a common flu (or any other respiratory infection other than covid) between people that surround it.
The flu too!
You know that Asians, especially Japanese and Chinese, used masks frequently, even long before the pandemic, in public and crowded spaces. According to Cataño, this is good public health behavior because it avoids spreading respiratory viruses.
The specialist explains that “we do not know when a susceptible person can be infected”, that is, what for you or me can be a mild flu because there is a competent immune system responding, an immunodeficient person, older or with low defenses can result in a more serious illness requiring hospitalization.
Remember that SARS-CoV-2 (or covid) is not the only virus that can have fatal offspring. “Those who do not have our same health conditions may have a disease that evolves into severe forms,” he concludes.
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