New Delhi: The cases of Coronavirus infection have increased rapidly worldwide due to the Omicron variant. In many countries, this variant infected crores of people. In the last 2 months, there have been many studies regarding Omicron variants. In which the rate and severity of infection of this variant have been studied. In all these studies, it was found that Omicron is more contagious than other previous variants of Covid-19 but due to mild symptoms, it has not caused serious lung disease. There is some scientific reasoning behind this.
Data related to the rate of infection and hospitalization from many countries of the world have confirmed that the infection rate of this variant is high but in comparison, the number of patients admitted to the hospital is very less. Many scientists believe that the Omicron variant may prove to be the beginning of the end of the corona epidemic. The answer to this question in global studies is-
Will the pandemic end because of Omicron?
In a report published on December 28 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, it was reported that studies conducted in South Africa have shown that the Omicron variant caused less severe cases associated with Covid-19 infection. This variant was first identified on 9 November 2021 in the city of Tshwane, which is located in the Guateng province of South Africa. There was a fourth wave of corona in this city due to the Omicron variant, but the number of serious cases was much less than the previous wave.
Omicron variants less lethal than Delta
The most recent study has been published in the Scientific Journal MedrixV on 11 January regarding this subject. In this, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rosalee Valensky, said that the Omicron variant is less lethal than all other variants, including Delta. Citing this research, he said that in Southern California, this study was done on 52,297 patients infected with Omicron variants and 16,982 patients infected with Delta variants. Compared to the delta variant, the risk of hospitalization was reduced in 53 percent of patients infected with the Omicron variant, and 74 percent of the cases did not require the patient to be admitted to the ICU, while the risk of death due to this variant decreased by 91 percent.
Omicron 70 times faster but less severe in terms of infection
In mid-December last year, researchers at Hong Kong University were the first to describe how an Omicron variant infects and affects the respiratory system. In this study, these scientists said that this variant infects 70 times faster than all other variants of Delta and SARS-CoV-2. The study also reported that the Omicron variant proved to be less lethal inside the lungs than other previous variants and did not cause serious disease.
Omicron variant also caused fewer infections in mice
In a study released on December 29, 2021, virologist Michael Diamond of the University of Washington and his team claimed that the Omicron variant caused less infection and disease in mice as well. The team of researchers involved in this study studied the effects of all other variants on rats and hamsters. During this, they found that the effect of viral due to the Omicron variant in the lungs of these animals for a few days was reduced and it was 10 times less than the previous variants. It was told in this study that the infection of the Omicron variant remains in the upper part of the respiratory system, due to which it does not cause serious disease.
