The research of South African scientists suggests that the Omicron variant could displace the Delta variant of the COVID-19 because infection with the new strain strengthens immunity to the older. However, the study covered only a small group of individuals and was not peer-reviewed. Still, it found that Omicron infected people, especially those who received vaccination shots, boosted the Delta variant’s immunity.
In addition, the analysis compromised thirty-three immunized and unimmunized people infected with the Omicron variant in South Africa. The authors also found that neutralization of the Omicron variant increased fourteen-fold over fourteen days after the enrolment; they also saw that there was a 4.4-fold surge in the neutralization of the Delta variant.
Research by South African scientists suggests that Omicron could displace the Delta variant because infection with the new variant boosts immunity to the older one.
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The scientists said that the rise in Delta variant neutralization in people infected with the Omicron variant might result in a lessened ability of Delta to re-infect those people. The study’s outcome is consistent with the Omicron variant displacing the previously detected Delta variant since it can prompt immunity which neutralizes Delta making re-infection with Delta less likely.
According to the scientists who led the latest study, there is a low risk of hospitalization and severe disease in individuals infected with Omicron compared with the Delta variant. However, the scientists say some of that is possibly due to high population immunity.
Global Surging Coronavirus Cases Raising Testing and Quarantine Fears
Daily Coronavirus infections hit record highs in the U.S., Australia, and Europe as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus races out of control, keeping workers at home and crushing testing centers with the heavy load. Some studies suggested that the Omicron variant is less lethal than some of its predecessors; a significant number of people testing positive means that hospitals in some nations might soon be overwhelmed, while businesses across the world might face difficulties operating because of workers having to quarantine.
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On Tuesday, the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Malta, Spain, Italy, and Portugal registered a record number of new Coronavirus cases. The average number of daily Coronavirus cases in the U.S. has also hit a record high over the last seven days. The previous peak recorded in January of this year. On Wednesday, new daily COVID infections in Australia rushed to approximately eighteen thousand three hundred, surpassing the past high record of about eleven thousand three hundred one day earlier.
Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, said that they needed a gear change to manage overloaded laboratories, with long drive-in and walk-in queues reported in many areas. Several world governments also have concerns with the vast numbers of individuals forced into self-isolation because they interreacted with a COVID-19 sufferer.
Low Risk of Hospitalization for the Omicron than Delta
China showed no ease in its policy of zero tolerance to outbreaks, keeping thirteen million individuals in the city of Xian under stiff lockdown for a 7th day as new Coronavirus infections continued, with around one hundred and fifty cases reported Tuesday. However, according to the statement from the World Health Organization, preliminary statistics of South Africa, Denmark, and the United Kingdom suggest that there is a low risk of severe illness and hospitalization for the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant.
Read Also: Boosters Increases Vaccine Efficacy up to 75% against Omicron – UK Study
