Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko reported that information gathered during a visit by Russian experts to South Africa indicates that the Omicron variant spreads much faster than previous strains. During a work visit to the city of Rostov on Don, he stated, "Experts assessed the clinical course and characteristics. It turned out that this strain spreads much faster... and affects a larger number of children," as reported by Russian media.
He noted that the disease's progression after infection with the Omicron variant resembles flu symptoms. He also informed that current testing systems for diagnosing the coronavirus are able to detect the Omicron variant, saying, "We see that all existing COVID-19 detection devices in the market can also detect the Omicron variant."
Early laboratory studies on human cells suggest that the Omicron variant may be less efficient in infiltrating the lungs and spreading from one cell to another, compared to other variants of the coronavirus. This may help explain some early data from countries like South Africa and the UK, indicating that the Omicron strain causes "less severe disease." However, despite Omicron's potential inefficiency in invading lung cells, a new study published on the U.S. scientific site "Live Science" confirmed that the new variant evades most antibodies in fully vaccinated individuals.
Similar to other research, the study showed that a booster dose of the vaccine significantly increased the neutralizing antibody response against the variant. According to chief researcher Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, the results suggest that Omicron is a double-edged variant: on one hand, it is better at evading the immune system, but it may have lost some of the coronavirus's capacity to cause severe disease.
Despite reassurances regarding the variant's ability to attack patients aggressively, Gupta emphasized that "the notable spread of the Omicron variant remains a significant health challenge."
