Covid infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in Italy where the Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is predominant and the Omicron 5 wave is growing, which is 23.15%, more contagious but with symptoms that bring it closer to flu. some experts. In our country both the incidence of coronavirus cases and the transmissibility index Rt are growing, according to the data of the latest monitoring by the ISS control room and the Ministry of Health. Yesterday in Italy there were 16,571 new infections (30,526 the previous day) and 59 deaths (18 Sunday). Patients with symptoms increased (+187 for a total of 4,585) and intensive care (+10 for a total of 209).
According to Massimo Andreoni, head of infectious disease at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome and scientific director of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit), Omicron 5 “clinically it is already a flu, perhaps with a fever, but certainly not seasonal, given that it is 9 months which is circulating in a violent way also considering the deaths. So we can talk about ‘flu’, but with due caution, Sars-CoV-2 did not go to the attic and the sub-variant Omicron BA.5 shows us that some element of concern remains . We can’t think it’s all over. ” “We can console ourselves with a clinical impact of the disease that today is not terrible, but it depends on the choice you want to make from a political point of view – underlines the specialist – We are facing a virus that has not yet found its stabilization, it keeps changing, so we still have to be very careful. ”
On the hypothesis that Omicron 5 could be like a flu “basically I think it is, in some cases even less. We have forms of reinforced cold, runny nose and sore throat. In 3-4 days maximum in a vaccinated this form it resolves, “he tells Adnkronos Salute Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, commenting on what was stated by the infectious disease specialist Giovanni Di Perri: “The last variant almost never goes down into the lungs, it comes from Portugal where it is passing without damage”. According to Bassetti, “we are dealing with a flu-like form, therefore very contagious, but if we look at the data of hospitalizations in the countries where BA.5 has already passed, they did not get up, very few people were hospitalized”. “We have to get used to seeing situations like the one we are experiencing today, or the increase in infections, we will always have them – the specialist remarks – After that, it is useful to indicate every day in Italy who is positive for a tampon? No. We create just insecurity. We have the weapons to deal with this infection and we need to look forward. ”
“Covid is now an influence? I don’t think the time is yet ripe to say it and to get to ordinary management. I remain cautious given the appearance on the scene of a new sub-variant, the Omicron 5, which could give us some problems”. To tell Adnkronos Salute is Massimo Galli, former director of the infectious disease department of the Sacco hospital in Milan. “I can share with some colleagues – he explains – the assessment that the disease is becoming less impacting on health facilities. We have a less pathogenic disease, but this does not necessarily mean that the virus has ‘calmed down’. In fact, there are also many vaccinated and this could make it difficult for the virus to lead to severe disease. ” For Galli, therefore, “we still need caution, because every time a new diffusion variant arrives it is evident that there will also be an important number of infections. And every time we have so many cases, even though the disease has less impact, the The risk of seeing hospitals in difficulty cannot be excluded. In any case, a percentage, albeit a small one, gets sick more seriously. And if there are so many cases, the absolute number of people who get sick increases “.
The Omicron 5 sub-variant of Sars-CoV-2 “gives a flu-like pathology and as such we must treat it: no isolation” even in the case of positivity, “only precautions to avoid transmission” he reiterates to Adnkronos Health Maria Rita Gismondodirector of the Laboratory of clinical microbiology, virology and diagnostics of bioemergencies at the Sacco hospital in Milan, in agreement with those comparing a mutant flu like Omicron 5. “If this variant, as is probable, will not be supplanted by a ‘other associated with a different pathology, we can rest assured “, reassures the expert.
“Covid-19 is Covid-19 and flu is flu. They are not the same – the epidemiologist explains to Adnkronos Salute Pier Luigi Lopalco, Professor of Hygiene at the University of Salento – The burden of disease and the impact on health facilities caused by the Omicron wave last winter was greater than that caused by a flu season. In addition, we do not yet know the burden due to Long Covid. So it is better not to confuse the two pathologies. “Another element that the expert underlines is the continuing importance of containment measures:” Influenza is an important pathology that we have finally kept under control thanks to greater vaccination coverage and the widespread use of masks. Why should we give up on these control measures? “Asks Lopalco.
“True, most of the replication” of the new Omicron sub-variants such as Omicron BA.5 “occurs in the upper airways,” the upper ones, “but this virus has not completely cooled down yet. There are also cases of pneumonia and of interstitial pneumonia “and therefore” it is absolutely not to be underestimated “the virologist told Adnkronos Salute Fabrizio Pregliasco, lecturer at the State University of Milan, defining a “distracting message” that which compares to a mutant influence of Sars-CoV-2 such as Omicron 5, on the basis of the symptoms detected in the most widespread countries, including Portugal. “We are facing a normal, evolutionary adaptation” of the pandemic coronavirus, explains the doctor. “A series of mutations that go in an advantageous direction, of a generally calmer clinical picture, but thanks also – and we must say it – to the contribution of vaccination, of the large number of vaccinated subjects”. It is also by virtue of this factor, the medical director of Irccs Galeazzi, that “the affected organism manages to avoid a deeper and wider viral replication”.
OMICRON 5 SPECIAL WATCHED – Meanwhile the sub-variant Omicron BA.5 “remains a ‘special guard'”. The Inmi Spallanzani of Rome highlights this in a note, returning to the visit that the World Health Organization made to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases a few days ago. “In the meeting held at Spallanzani between the management of the Institute and the WHO representation, the point was made on the circulation of Omicron variants in the world. It emerged that, in many countries, a significant increase in the sub-variant BA.5 is being observed. , which is rapidly replacing the previous BA.2. Countries such as South Africa were the first to experience the wave of BA.5, which is currently already on the decline, with a sharp increase in infections, but a limited impact on hospitalizations “, he points out. the Spallanzani.
“It was however observed that South Africa, as already occurred with BA.1 and BA.2, may not provide data fully representative of the European reality, given the different context of the natural and vaccine immunity of the population – continues the note – Also during the meeting with WHO, the greater importance, in terms of forecasting the Italian scenario, was emphasized instead of the data coming from Portugal, a country with an epidemiological situation more similar to that of Italy, in which it already seems to see a trend to the BA.5 “plateau.
This is why a message arrives from the Inmi specialists: “There are currently no signs of increased clinical severity of the new BA.4 and BA.5 variantseven taking into account that the genetic difference with respect to BA.2 is of a few key mutations – the experts remark – It must however be said that, as already observed with BA.1 and BA.2, an increase in cases linked to greater transmissibility and greater immune escape of the new variants could result in a limited and transient increase in hospitalizations “.
THE STUDY: LESS LONG-TERM EFFECTS WITH OMICRON THAN DELTA – The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 may have fewer long-term effects, Long Covid, than Delta did previously. This is what emerges from a study by King’s College London, published in ‘The Lancet’, with data monitored by the ‘Zoe Health Study’ platform. The research has been peer-reviewed and is the first on the differences in Long Covid between different variants.
The work analyzed 56,003 cases of adults in the UK who first tested Covid-positive between December 20, 2021 and March 9, 2022, when Omicron was the dominant strain. The researchers then compared these data to 41,361 positives between June 1, 2021 and November 27, 2021, with Delta prevailing. Well, the analysis showed that 4.4% of Omicron cases had also had a Long Covid, while with Delta it was 10.8%. However, the absolute number of positive people who had consequences from the infection was higher when Omicron was the dominant variant.
According to Claire Steves, lead author of the study, “the Omicron variant appears to be substantially less likely to cause Long Covid than previous variants, but we still have one in 23 people who contract the disease and continue to have symptoms for more than 4 weeks. . It is therefore important to continue to support these people at home, at work and within public health. ”
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