Le Matin – Omicron variant: Less malignancy does not mean less dangerous

Milder symptoms, fewer hospital admissions, 0 deaths reported, all indicators related to the Omigran variant are less malignant than previous strains. But it has no reason to rest on our laurels. We must always be vigilant because this new variant is more contagious than the delta, which could have a negative impact on the epidemiological situation, says Dr. Tayeb Hamdi, a researcher at the Doctor, Policies and Health Systems.

It is exactly two weeks since the Omigron variant first appeared in the world. With the number of infections increasing every day in many countries, no deaths have been reported associated with this new variant. Can this be taken as good news? Not really, Dr. Tayeb Hamdi, physician, researcher on health policies and systems. “At this time, no quick conclusion can be drawn from the simple fact that there have been no deaths so far from Omigran. This variant mainly affects young people, who do not need to respect prohibition measures. He announces to “Madin”.

Our speaker to date, sufferers of the Omigran variant have mild symptoms and have been hospitalized in very rare cases. “This suggests that this variant is not more malignant than the delta. The World Health Organization (WHO) and many experts are almost certain. This is certainly good news, but unfortunately, based on the data analyzed over the past two weeks, everything suggests that Omigron is more contagious than the delta.” , “Says Dr. Hamdi.” In the coming days, we will have to define the transfer rate of the Omigran variant. If it becomes contagious, the condition will worsen, even if it is less malignant.

Contrary to what one might think, the more contagious the strain, the more severe the strain, the expert says. “Compared to the number of deaths due to highly contagious variation, the number of deaths caused by highly malignant variant will be lower. In fact, the latter will still affect many more, although in the end the death rate will be much lower than that of a viral variant,” Dr. Hamdy explains. “The second problem with the difference between the risks of these two types of viral mutations is that the more malignant strains lead people to take more precautionary measures for fear of an infection that poses a greater risk to their lives.” He adds.

While waiting for accurate data on this new variant, expert citizens must be vaccinated to cope with the new strain and prevent the infectious condition from getting worse. The only protection against the virus.

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Almost safe vaccines against omingron

The results of laboratory tests on the effectiveness of antibodies from the current Govit-19 vaccine against the Omigran variant will be known in the coming days. However, WHO emergency officer Michael Ryan, in an interview with AFP, said there was no doubt that current vaccines protect patients affected by the variant.
“We have the most effective vaccines, which have so far shown potential against all variants based on the severity of the disease and hospitalization, and there is no reason to believe that this may not be the case at Omigran,” he explained.