Filenews 6 December 2021
The emergence of the Omicron strain has created global concern as a strain of "very high" global risk, and has already led the U.S. and other countries to restrict movement from South Africa, where the strain first appeared.
Mary Bushman, a postdoctoral researcher in Harvard University's department of Epidemiology based on her recent publication on the newest strains and their impact on prevention measures in the population, answers questions about the newest strain of the virus. The Doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Theodora Psaltopoulou, Panos Malandrakis, Giannis Danasis and Thanos Dimopoulos (Rector of the University of Athens) summarize her interview.
Based on your post, newer strains have greater transmissibility and can "escape" from protecting the immune system ultimately leading to symptomatic COVID-19 infection. What about the Omicron strain?
We don't know yet. The number of mutations of the virus may demonstrate its potential to lead to symptomatic disease and be more easily transmitted, but this is a guess based on laboratory data, and remains to be confirmed by real-life data. The data show, that in South Africa the Omicron strain quickly replaces the Delta as the dominant strain is an indirect indicator, which probably confirms this reasoning, but is not a proof.
Will existing vaccines provide protection for the new strain?
It is still too early to know the degree of protection that mRNA vaccines will provide against the new strain, however it is promising that mRNA vaccines not only lead to the production of neutralizing antibodies, but also induce T cellular immunity that can provide partial protection to younger strains, even despite mutations of the virus, that help him escape the protection of antibodies.
The imposition of the travel ban on the part of Public Health may save time, but how will scientists use it as a means of preventing the spread of the new strain?
Perhaps the imposition of this measure is always a little delayed, as the random fragmentary detection of younger strains shows a much greater dispersion, so the additional time we will gain may or may not be beneficial. On the contrary, the low-cost rapid "rapid testing" can make a difference in the prevention part.
If in a few weeks from now, the Omicron strain starts to fade and this vigilance seems "the wrong alarm", what lessons is it teaching us about the future of the pandemic? What can we do to avoid an executive who will confirm even the most ominous predictions?
All the data converge on the immediate need for mass vaccination in low-income countries, especially in Africa. Vaccines can protect the population of those countries that have a low vaccination rate, and reducing the spread of the virus gives less chance for the virus to mutate.
