Filenews 9 May 2022
No one can rule out that Omikron's sub-variants may also come to Cyprus, said the member of the Advisory Scientific Committee, Dr. Zoe-Dorothea Pana, stressing that we must monitor the situation in order to be able to operate in a timely and effective manner if and when there is a tendency to prevail.
Dr. Pana said that the issue of variations and mutations is something that will concern us in the coming period. During this period, he noted, some sub-variations of Omikron, NE.4 and NE.5, have been recorded as offshoots of the original Omikron that were originally detected in South Africa, the United States, and there are sporadic incidents at the moment in Europe as well.
Regarding the very characteristics of these sub-variants from the initial data it seems, he said, that it is a very contagious strain comparable to that of Omikron. The other elements that interest us, he continued, concerning whether it causes more serious disease and whether it affects the effectiveness of existing vaccines, this takes more time and study.
"We are in a phase where anyway both the European Commission and the European Agency for Disease Control and Prevention, with their recent reports have stated that we must supervise the COVID 19 disease but obviously also the mutations and sub-variations that will occur in the future so that we can monitor on the one hand the evolution of this natural phenomenon of the SARS-COV2 virus and on the other hand in order to be able to operate in a timely and effective manner, although if we see that there is some tendency to prevail some of these variants that will arise either the ones we are referring to now or any variation that will emerge in the next period of time," he added.
Asked if these two sub-variants will also come to Cyprus, she said that "no one can rule this out, no one can confirm it. In this phase of the pandemic, all countries and especially the Member States of Europe, we are in a phase of balance and coexistence with the coronavirus with population movements, with the lifting of restrictive measures. We are among the countries that still have a high wall of immunity both because of vaccination and natural disease."
He explained that the spread of the virus is not the same compared to other countries, in which practically the vaccination coverage was much lower. "That's where there's a greater risk that we can spread these sub-variations and new ones will appear. This was also said as a concern by the World Health Organization recently."
"There are practically 40 countries where less than 20% of the population is fully vaccinated. This does not help us towards the common goal at a global level to increase immunity and vaccination coverage of the population in general," he clarified.
When asked if we will have a new epidemic wave, he said we have no information so far if there is a tendency to prevail over the pre-existing variant. "We are simply monitoring the situation that exists with NE.4 and NE.5, if the incidents increase and if it prevails over the existing one. It's a little early to answer that question," he noted.
Adaptation period
Dr. Pana said that two years after the pandemic, we have a high wall of immunity that resulted from vaccination and physical illness. He pointed out that due to the seasonality that the weather conditions improve, we do not crowd indoors and respiratory infections are more difficult to transmit. All this, he continued, has led to the vast majority of countries in Europe being in a phase of coexistence with the virus safely and a framework of surveillance and preparation.
When asked if there will be new relaxations in Cyprus, Dr. Pana replied that for further relaxations we should not overlook that we continue to be in the midst of a pandemic and aim towards endemicity.
"At this stage we have a balance and we continue to monitor the serious illness and we act accordingly. No one can secure anything in the coming period. The data show for the other countries of Europe and for Cyprus that if nothing new emerges we will have the desired balance until the summer. September is a period that certainly concerns us from many quarters," he said.
Dr Pana said that "most of the measures have been lifted. The aim is for any measures that still exist to be prioritised in high-risk areas and high-risk individuals. That is, where we know that there are chances of serious illness whether they concern people or high-risk areas.
Beyond that, we will have to see how the whole situation develops and prepare ourselves. It is a period of adjustment, preparation and monitoring for the next period," he added.
A second "silent" pandemic – hospital-acquired infections and microbe resistance
Dr. Pana said the World Health Organization has for the first time issued an official report on the infection control and prevention piece including hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance in connection with the COVID 19 pandemic.
"The conclusions were that we have to manage with a second 'silent' pandemic, that of hospital-acquired infections and the resistance of microbes. The problem existed before and worsened during the pandemic," he said.
"A significant number of people entered the intensive care units, stayed for a long time and are the right background for all these resistant strains to flourish and thrive," he added.
He pointed out that 10% of people are affected by nosocomial infections and end up.
Even more important in the World Health Organization's report, he continued, is that about 70% of these infections can be prevented by proper training and the implementation of best practices.
He pointed out that there was also a WHO study, before the pandemic, that antimicrobial resistance and hospital-acquired infections are the next scourge that will overcome cancer deaths.
"On the occasion of the pandemic and the awareness that exists as well as the knowledge and wisdom for the management of epidemics, it is the right phase in achieving these common goals of preventing hospital-acquired infections, throughout Europe and for Cyprus," he added.
CNA
