The omicron variant is less harmful to the lungs when compared to the previous variant.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Several recent studies have succeeded in providing a more thorough understanding of the omicron variant. One of them is related to the reason why varian omicron tend to cause symptoms Covid-19 which is lighter.
One of the studies was conducted by a team of Japanese and American researchers on mice and hamsters. This study showed that the omicron variant causes infection with a lower degree of damage and is often confined to the nose, throat, and windpipe.
The study also found that the omicron variant was less harmful to the lungs than the previous variant. As is known, the previous variants can trigger breathing difficulties and injury to the lungs. Mice infected with the omicron variant also experienced weight loss and a lower chance of death.
In this study, researchers also used Syrian hamsters. In previous studies, Syrian hamsters often became seriously ill when infected with other variants of Covid-19. However, when infected with the Omicron variant, Syrian hamsters appear to experience milder symptoms.
“This is surprising, given that other variants cause severe infections in these hamsters,” said researcher and virologist from Washington University, Dr. News.com, Sunday (2/1).
A different study conducted by a research team from the University of Hong Kong also showed similar results. This study used tissue taken from the human respiratory tract.
There were 12 samples from the lungs used in the study. The results of the study showed that the omicron variant developed more slowly than the delta variant and other variants.
Further studies will certainly be carried out to gain a further understanding of the omicron variant. One of them is a study to study the respiratory tract of people infected with the omicron variant.
On the other hand, recent findings in these studies may explain why people infected with the omicron variant are hospitalized less frequently than people infected with the delta variant. The findings are also in line with what is happening in several regions, including New South Wales.
The omicron variant has indeed triggered an increase in new Covid-19 cases in the Australian state. However, rates of hospitalization and patients in the ICU appear to be stable. The number of ICU patients requiring ventilators has also decreased.
“Hospital care is increasing, but not at the same rate as new cases,” said Catherine Bennett, head of the department of epidemiology at Deakin University.
Professor Bennett said omicron infections that required hospitalization had a shorter average length of stay than the average. However, the problem with the omicron variant is its ability to spread quickly.
“This study addresses the question of what might happen in the lungs but doesn’t really address the question of transmissibility,” said University of Pennsylvania virologist Sara Cherry.
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