The ability of the omicron to survive for a long time in the external environment, discovered by Japanese scientists, increases the danger of the virus in public places. This opinion was shared with Lenta.ru by the virologist of the Gamaleya Center, Doctor of Medical Sciences Anatoly Altshtein.
“Undoubtedly, this property increases the danger of the virus in public places. Omicron is generally more contagious than the previous options by three to five times. The fact that it is stable in the external environment, no doubt, affects its distribution, ”he said, speaking about the danger of the new property of the omicron strain.
According to Altstein, this feature of the omicron poses a danger primarily to children, since they interact a lot with open surfaces in schools, kindergartens and playrooms.
Children, no doubt, can become infected in this way. We used to think that they were less susceptible to coronavirus, but now we understand that they can get sick. They are more resilient, but the properties of the omicron are sufficient to break through their defenses. Hence the need for a vaccine
Anatoly Altsteinvirologist
At the same time, the virologist emphasized that the infectivity of the omicron strain is mainly affected by its ability to actively multiply in the upper respiratory tract.
The main route of spread of coronavirus remains airborne
Virologist, Professor of Moscow State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences Alexei Agranovsky argued with a colleague, saying that the new discovery does not fundamentally change anything in the ideas about the contagiousness of the omicron strain. “Suppose this is true and the alpha and omicron strains live twice as long on surfaces as the null strain. This does little to change the epidemiology of COVID-19. The main route of distribution of omicron is airborne, ”he said.
According to him, most infections in places such as the subway and public transport still occur precisely by airborne droplets, and “buttons and handrails have almost nothing to do with it.”
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The virologist also doubts the results of the study by Japanese scientists, since, according to him, the “survivability” of the virus is determined by properties that are difficult to mutate. “From general ideas, it seems that the resistance of a virus in the external environment is determined by the structure of the virion (a full-fledged viral particle), the packing density of RNA in the nucleocapsid (structural unit of a simple virus) and other factors that are unlikely to be strongly affected by a limited number of mutations (amino acid substitutions) in genome,” Agranovsky added.
Earlier, Japanese researchers found that the omicron strain is able to survive longer than other variants of the virus in the external environment. According to them, the life of the strain on plastic is eight days and almost a day on the skin. According to the scientists who conducted the study, such properties of the strain may be responsible for its high infectivity.
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