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Scientists are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to learn more about the Omicron version. To combat the spread of the virus, countries around the world have instituted travel bans. On November 25, 2021, scientists in South Africa first revealed the discovery of a new variety. COVID cases have risen at an exponential rate since then, and South Africa has already entered its fourth wave.
Scientists from the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa spoke to The Conversation Africa about their findings, which are detailed in a pre-print study.
What distinguishes Omicron from its predecessors?
The danger of reinfection is one of our major results. A positive SARS-COV-2 test three months after a previous positive test is considered reinfection. The Omicron variation has a substantially higher relative risk of reinfection than the Beta and Delta variants (at least 3-fold). According to our findings, the Omicron variation is linked to a higher potential to resist prior infection immunity. In comparison to the original, or wild, form, there is no population-wide epidemiological evidence of enhanced immune escape with the Beta or Delta variations. This study has significant public health implications, particularly in nations like South Africa where past infection immunity is high.A study of past infection indicated that nearly half of South African blood donors had been infected just before the third wave (in May 2021). Another study, PHIRST-C, found that by the end of August 2021, more than 60% of people had been infected. A lesser fourth wave was predicted as a result of the high incidence of earlier illness, paired with roughly 40% vaccine coverage among adults.
However, if the virus mutates to boost its ability to resist natural immunity, as it appears to have done with Omicron, governments will be unable to predict the scale of future outbreaks based on previous natural immunity. We can not say anything about the severity of Omicron infections at this time, whether they are primary or reinfections. We also do not know if reinfections are vaccinated.
Another important question that has yet to be answered is whether lowered immunity to reinfection will influence protection against severe disease and mortality. Several preprints have recently been published, implying that Omicron might evade neutralisation in vaccinated patients who had not previously been infected. These findings could explain why there is such a high risk of reinfection. Early laboratory data examining T-cell-based immunity assays, on the other hand, suggest that substantial protection against severe disease and mortality may still exist. Our conclusions were based on a review of surveillance data obtained in South Africa between March 4 and November 27 of 2021.
