Infectious disease doctor, chief physician of Invitro-Siberia, Andrei Pozdnyakov, told Izvestia about the features of the new Omicron coronavirus strain.
“Compared to the Delta strain, Omicron has a higher contagiousness, that is, infectiousness. <...> The disease caused by the Delta strain began to resemble a common respiratory infection. The pathognomonic symptom in the form of anosmia, characteristic only of this disease, has become less and less common. So far, the disease caused by the Omicron strain has not been found to be pathognomonic: respiratory manifestations, muscle pain, severe fatigue, night sweats, decreased appetite are also found in other acute respiratory infections, ”the specialist said.
Pozdnyakov cited information from German and British researchers, according to which diseases caused by “Omicron” are recorded more often in vaccinated people and are easy. The infectious disease specialist urged to look at these data carefully, since the number of vaccinated in Germany and the UK is higher. The fact that the disease proceeds easily can be explained not only by the peculiarity of the strain, but also by the protective effect of vaccines, the doctor said.
“In this situation, it is necessary to compare the severity of the disease among approximately the same large groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated. Then it will be clear how vaccines react to a new strain. The problem in the perception of the vaccination process is that many Russian citizens perceive vaccination as an indulgence from the virus: “vaccinated means I will not get sick.” At the same time, citizens of other countries perceive vaccination as life insurance: “vaccinated means I will not die,” Pozdnyakov added, noting that such an acceptance of the vaccination process is correct.
He added that if it becomes clear that the vaccine stops working against the new strain, changes will be made to its composition. However, at the moment such data are not available. At the same time, vaccine developers are actively collecting information and planning technological changes as needed.
“Since the principle of creating a vaccine and its action is already clear, there is a“ matrix ”. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it is always easier to make changes than to reinvent them, ”Pozdnyakov concluded.
On November 30, Roberto Cauda, a professor of infectious diseases at the Rome Gemelli hospital, named the ways to prevent Omicron. According to him, this strain can be contained by the most common measures – you need to continue to wear masks, gloves, and maintain social distance. He also added that it is important to increase the rate of vaccination.
A large-scale vaccination campaign is underway in the Russian Federation. Citizens are vaccinated for free. Five vaccines against coronavirus have been registered in the country: Sputnik V, which became the first vaccine against COVID-19 in the Russian Federation and the world, as well as Sputnik Light, EpiVacCorona, EpiVacCorona-N and KoviVak.
All relevant information on the situation with the coronavirus is available on the websites stopcoronavirus.rf and access to all.rf, as well as by the hashtag #WeVeTogether. Coronavirus hotline: 8 (800) 2000-112.
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