The University of Hong Kong released a preprint: Omi Keron reproduces 70 times faster in some organizations than Delta!

The latest shared preliminary data indicates that the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 may target and infect respiratory tissues at a different rate than the Delta variant and other predecessors

The results of this study have not yet been peer-reviewed, but they were announced at a press conference at the University of Hong Kong on December 15 (Wednesday)

Beth Thielen, a pediatrician and infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said: “Based on the preliminary data discussed in these circles, this finding is not surprising to me.

To measure the infection rate, the researchers exposed each type of human tissue sample to the original mutations of Omicron, Delta, and SARS-CoV-2, and measured the infiltration and replication of each cell in human cells after 24 hours and 48 hours.

Thielen said that the idea that upper respiratory tract infections will lead to a greater rate of disease transmission makes sense

A virus located in the higher respiratory tract is associated with higher infectivity, but the less serious disease also reflects the scientists' understanding of various influenza strains, but Thielen warns that the influenza is compared with SARS-CoV-2 It is an imperfect inference

Meghan May, a microbiologist and infectious disease expert at the University of New England, wrote: "If we think back to the H5N1 ('bird flu') influenza, which made headlines in the mid-2000s, we tend to think that it is highly pathogenic.

Hugh Cassiere, a pulmonologist at North Shore University Hospital, said viruses that have less impact on the lungs can cause less serious illness

"Looking at these data and hearing the experience of South Africa, I think these data may continue

However, although the study found that there is a difference in the lung infection rate between the original SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron, May pointed out that there is no statistics between the replication rate of Omicron and Delta in the lung tissue after 24 hours or 48 hours.

One limitation of this study is that samples of lung and bronchial tissue are not perfect models of what happens when the virus is encountered in the body

"The research technique using discarded lung tissue seems to be a reasonable in vitro model to analyze virus replication," added Aimee Bernard, an immunologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

Alternative explanation

Data released this week by Discovery Health, a South African health insurance company, shows that the country’s current Omicron wave’s hospitalization rate is lower than the previous surge, but these data may not fully reflect the situation, because the Omicron variant has a higher vaccination rate than the original SARS-CoV- 2 Variation and Delta spread among the population

"The tricky thing is that vaccines are a real potential confounding factor.

Cassiere said that one way to test the hypotheses of the Hong Kong University researchers about clinical results is to analyze biomarkers of inflammation in blood samples of coronavirus patients

Even though Omicron's cases do tend to be relatively mild, the increased transmission capacity of this variant makes it very dangerous

A more effective spike protein?

Another preprint shared by researchers from Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday (December 14) found that Omicron’s severely mutated spike protein is better at penetrating and infecting human embryonic kidney cells than past variants.

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Immunologist and preprint co-author Wilfredo Garcia Beltran said: "Considering that we are working on a variant that can enter human cells more efficiently, Omicron can infect humans at a lower dose than other variants.
This is very likely.
Will become a reality
.
"

However, the findings of the Hong Kong research team may indicate that the Omicron variant only defeated the immune system in numbers, and Cassiere speculated that it replicated to an extent beyond the control of the immune system
.

He said: "If your castle is surrounded, you may be able to repel 10,000 soldiers, but you cannot repel 100,000 or 1 million soldiers
.
It is not built for this
.
"