The Omicron variant of Covid-19 can survive longer than previous variants of the virus on plastic surfaces and human skin, new research by Japanese scientists has found, cited by Euronews.
The study by a team at Kyoto Medical University, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, found that, overall, the variants survived much longer in materials than the original strain, after a series of laboratory tests.
+ Covid is less severe with Omicron than with Delta, US study points out
Still, the researchers concluded that, in particular, Omicron’s high “environmental stability” – its ability to remain infectious – may have helped to replace Delta as the dominant variant, spreading more quickly.
“Our study showed that on plastic surfaces and on skin, the Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron variants exhibited twice as long survival times as the Wuhan strain and maintained integrity for more than 16 h on skin surfaces.” according to research.
On plastic surfaces alone, the average survival times of the original strain was 56 hours, and that of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants were 191.3 hours, 156.6 hours, 59.3 hours and 114 hours, respectively. In Ômicron, the virus survived for 193.5 hours, the equivalent of eight days.
In cadaver skin samples, mean virus survival times were 8.6 hours for the original version, 19.6 hours for Alpha, 19.1 hours for Beta, 11 hours for Gamma, 16.8 hours for Delta and 21.1 hours for Ômicron, showing that it once again survives longer.
“This study showed that the Ômicron variant also has the highest environmental stability among the VOCs [variantes preocupantes], which suggests that this high stability may also be one of the factors that allowed the Ômicron variant to replace the Delta variant and spread rapidly,” the authors said.
Although the variants were generally more resistant to ethanol than the original Covid-19 strain, they were all completely inactivated on the skin after 15 seconds of exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
“Therefore,” the researchers concluded, “it is highly recommended that current infection control practices (hand hygiene) use disinfectants, as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).”
know more
+ SP: Man dies standing, leaning against car, and scene scares residents on the coast
+ One twin became vegan, the other ate meat. Check the result
+ Reincarnation in history: an age-old belief
+ Andressa Urach asks for money on the internet: ‘Help me pay my card bill’
+ Horoscope: check today’s forecast for your sign
+ CNH: see what you need to know for the application and renewal
+ See which were the most stolen cars in SP in 2021
+ Expedition identifies giant squid responsible for ship sinking in 2011
+ Everything you need to know before buying a crockpot
+ US Agency warns: never wash raw chicken meat
+ What is known about fluorone?
+ Trick to squeeze lemons becomes a craze on social media
+ IPVA 2022 SP: see how to consult and pay the tax
#Omicron #long #strain #survive #surfaces #skin