The World Health Organization (WHO) has already expressed concern about a new type of coronavirus, Omicron. Scientists are also concerned about this type. Scientists say the coronavirus has undergone a massive mutation to take on this new form.
According to the BBC, a scientist in the United Kingdom has described the new variant of the Corona as ‘terrible’. Another scientist said they had never seen such a terrifying variant.
According to the scientific journal Nature, this variant was first found in Botswana.
It was then identified in South Africa. Soon after, it was identified in Hong Kong. However, this information was provided by the country only after the identification of this variant in South Africa. They said it could spread further.
After getting this information, some questions have come up about Omicron variant. These include, how quickly does this variant spread, and is the immune system developed as a result of vaccination able to prevent this variant? What to do to protect this variant from infection?
Many questions have been raised about Omicron. But the answers to these questions are rarely known. Regarding this variant, Tulio de Oliveria, director of the African Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation, said that it has changed abnormally and is different from any other variant. “This variant has shocked us,” he said.
De Oliveria said that in all, the gene pattern has changed about 50 times to form a new omikron type. And its spike protein properties have changed more than 30 times.
However, a closer look at this variant reveals another thing. The part of the virus that comes in contact with the human body has changed the receptor binding domain 10 times. This change was only twice in the case of the most contagious Delta variant identified so far.
The New York Times says the new variant’s spike protein conversion is worrying. This is because the body’s immune system or the immune system that has been created due to vaccination will not work against it. But Italy’s top virologist, Roberto Burioni, said the public should not be concerned. He wrote in a tweet that nothing is known about this variant yet.
Scientists say that such a mutation is possible only in the body of a patient who has not been able to get rid of the virus. But hopefully, mutations don’t mean bad things. In the case of mutations, it is important to know what type of virus is being mutated.
But scientists are concerned. That is, the new variant is different from the strain identified in Wuhan, China. But the vaccines that have been developed are largely based on the original strain of the virus. As a result, it may be that the vaccine is not working against this new variant.
Richard Lesles, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the cause of concern about the virus was that the variant might have a higher transmission. In addition, this variant can weaken the immune system.
But there are a number of examples of concerns about the new variant on paper, but not in the real sense. The same can be said of beta variants. There were concerns about this variant earlier this year. Because the immune system could not respond properly. But then came the highly contagious variant Delta and spread around the world.
In this context, Ravi Gupta, a professor at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, said that the immune system could not respond properly against Beta. There was nothing more than that. But Delta’s transmission capacity was high. And its ability to fight disease was moderate.
Research on the Omicron variant is still ongoing. A clear picture of this can be obtained from the laboratory. But the real answers to the questions that arise are actually found by observing the infected patient.
According to the New York Times, Anthony Fawcett, the top infectious disease specialist in the United States, spoke about this variant. “It simply came to our notice then. But the question is, can we reduce the transmission to this variant? ‘
Speaking to CNN about the variant, Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said the variant was behaving differently. It seems to be more contagious than the Delta variant.
