Omicron In Details
The World Health Organisation
(WHO) on November 26, 2021
designated variant B.1.1.529 as a ‘Variant of Concern’ and named it Omicron. It has been categorised as a SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC) by the WHO.
The new COVID-19 strain was first identified in southern Africa by the Network for GenomicsSurveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA),
The variant has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel and a significant number of which affect the spike protein targeted by most COVID-19 vaccines at the time of discovering the Omicron variant.
How Different it is from the
Original Virus?
The B1.1.529 has more than 2 times
the number of bad spike mutations
than the Delta variant.
The new variant has an extremely
high 32 worrisome mutations in the spike protein, which is a real concern than the Delta variant, According to WHO, it has increased transmissibility and decreased effectiveness of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
As the variant has large number of
mutations, it has huge impact on
how the virus behaves.
The epidemiological and correlation
of Omicron is noy fully established.
Omicron Symptoms
– There is no official data to suggest
that Omicron variant has different
symptoms than those from other
COVID variants.
The South African doctor who
chairs the South African Medical
Association informed that fatigue,
body aches and pains are some of
the symptoms of Omicron case.
– The other symptoms of those testing
positive for Omicron include severe
headaches and tiredness.
— None of the patients so far have
mentioned loss of smell/taste or
severely blocked of the nose or
increase in body temperature, which
were symptoms seen in patients
affected by other strains of COVID-19,
Some Variants and their Origin:
Omicron (B.1.1.529) Identified in
southern Africa in November 2021
Mu (B.1.621) Emerged in Colombia in
early 2021
Lambda (C.37) Emerged in Peru in
late 2020
Delta (B.1.617.2) Emerged in India in
late 2020 and spread around the world
Gamma (P.1) Emerged in Brazil in
late 2020
Beta (B.1.351) Emerged in South
Africa in early 2020
Alpha (B.1.1.7) Emerged in Britain in
late 2020