People with the omicron variant may also be immune to the delta variant. come out in one New lab study It was carried out by researchers from South Africa.
The study is so-called “preprint”, which means that it is not a finally published research article and that the research has the advantage of peer review.
If more research can confirm these findings, it could mean that the epidemic becomes less severe in the long term.
Theory: the epidemic ended after Omicron
However, in the near future it is expected that the omicron variant will lead to a wave of infection cases, which in turn will lead to an enormous burden on hospitals and the global economy.
However, the study suggests that a world where Omicron dominates may result in fewer hospitalizations and deaths than if the Delta continues to race across the globe.
– Omicron Delta is likely to drive. The fact that deltas are disappearing could actually be a positive, because we can look forward to something we can handle more easily than previous variables, says the virologist who led the study, Alex Segal of the Institute for Health Research in Africa, to The New York Times.
– The best that could happen
Epidemiologists in other countries have also expressed that they can already see the same pattern.
These numbers make him optimistic
– We see that the omicron is increasing while the delta states are decreasing. This indicates that omicron outperforms delta and to a large extent makes people less likely to develop omicron after infection with omicron, epidemiologist Nathan Grubow, of the Yale School of Public Health, tells the paper.
In Norway, the new research is also viewed favorably by experts.
The best that could happen is that the omicron becomes the dominant variable, and that’s what this study indicates.
Immunologist Anne Sporkland Dagbladet tells
She believes the survey results can be good news if they turn out to be correct.
– These are encouraging numbers, but it is important to stress that this is a ‘preliminary print’. This means that researchers have been working hard in recent weeks to obtain the important information. Now it remains that the research is evaluated by colleagues and published in the usual way. In the process, it can point out things the researchers might have missed, missed, or should have done something a little different, she says.
It could mean the end of the epidemic
the end of the delta
While omicrons spread in countries all over the world, Segal had a theory that omicrons could also confer immunity to other taxa.
His research results may mean that people infected with the delta variant, after succumbing to oomicron infection, have a lower chance of infecting others.
At the same time, the omicron will easily infect people who have previously had deltas. This feature can mean the end of a delta variable.
Even if omikron outperforms delta in the long run, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the omikron variant will rule forever. Eventually, as people acquire immunity to omicron, new mutations and variants can emerge that escape that immunity.
Not completely out of competition
Assistant Director of Health Espen Rostrup told Nacstad Dagbladet that it could be of use to us if omikron outperforms Delta.
– If it turns out to be the case, also in populations with a lot of omicron spread, this will contribute to the overcoming of the delta variant rather quickly. In this case, it would be an advantage for us, since the delta variant appears to give more serious disease than omicron, he tells Dagbladet.
This is how both mutants can destroy them
He notes that there are now a number of studies defining how well antibodies after undergoing omicron infection protect against a delta variant and that this study from South Africa provides evidence that one is protected against delta infection after an omicron infection.
However, Nakstad believes that there are other factors at play, which allow the delta variable to continue to circulate for a long time to come.
– We must be prepared for the fact that we can publish both delta and omicron variants for some time to come. Some virus strains belonging to the delta variant have properties that allow them to continue spreading for a long time without being completely outgunned by the omicron variant, he tells Dagbladet and adds:
– This is something that FHI and university hospitals will be following closely in the coming weeks.
You don’t want two
In the study, researchers analyzed blood samples from 13 people diagnosed with oomicron.
To find out the immune response, the researchers performed two tests, at the onset of infection and at least 14 days later.
Warnings: – Tsunami infection
–The blood samples were tested to see if they protect cells from infection with omicron and deltaviruses in a lab setting, not in the “real world,” Spurkland points out.
She explains that people who have had an omicron infection, not surprisingly, get antibodies and immunity to this variant.
But researchers in South Africa found that the antibodies proved effective against Delta, too.
– But the question is whether the omicron antibodies also protect against the delta variant, so that people with omicron also get immunity against the delta variant. We don’t want to end up in a situation where there are two different species circulating at the same time, and where one’s immunity doesn’t protect against the other, she says.
This is what worries him the most now
The immune system is ‘smarter’
The amount of omicron-neutralizing antibody increased 14-fold from the onset of infection and two weeks into the future. At the same time, patients also received four times the delta-neutralizing antibody.
There were seven vaccinated and six unvaccinated who participated in the study.
– This indicates that those vaccinated also achieved a better response to the delta variant after omicron infection. At the same time, the study shows that non-vaccinated people with no prior immunity received fewer antibodies that protect against the delta variant after succumbing to Omicron infection, Sporkland explains.
NIPH: Waiting for new omikron variants
Although she believes the research could point in the direction of a positive development, Sporkland believes the two-week observation period does not last.
– The explanation here may be that the immune system against the virus needs time to “mature”. To be sure, two weeks of observation time as in this study is too little. Over time, the immune system is “smarter” than the virus, because it has the ability to mutate antibodies against the virus every time it encounters the virus or vaccine.
different varieties
When people got infected with the Corona virus two years ago, they produced Antibodies and immunity to the virus. As a result, it was unusual for people to become infected again in the months that followed.
However, at the end of 2020, a number of new variants of the virus appeared. Some, such as alpha, have mutations that have allowed them to spread faster. Other variants, such as beta, have properties that allow antibodies to escape — either from previous coronary heart disease or through a coronary artery vaccine.
Standard spread in Europe: – Russian Roulette
During the spring of 2021, the delta variant spread and quickly became the dominant variant worldwide. The alternative was one The ability to spread faster and moderate ability to avoid antibodies.
Vaccines were still effective against the delta variant, but no Equally after a few months.
When Omicron appeared in November, it spread wildly Faster than other variants. An alternative was also to demonstrate that it is more likely to infect vaccinated people and those who have been infected with the previous variants.
It is still unknown when or if there will be a new coronavirus variant that will be significant to the pandemic.
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