Does Omicron Cause Only Mild Disease? Experts Too Early to Tell

In a hurry to understand the threat posed by the Omicron variant, the alarming new version of the coronavirus, some experts are hopefully pointing to early signs that Covid may cause only mild illness without some trademark symptoms.

But, who coordinates clinical and epidemiological data for the South African Covid Variant Research Consortium, Dr. It’s too soon to assume that the variant won’t cause serious illness either, Richard Lessells warned.

He said most of the early infections in South Africa were detected among younger people who were more likely to have mild illness. The picture may change as the virus spreads to the wider population.

Currently, the variant has been spotted in at least a dozen countries, including the UK and Netherlands. Many others are watching cases closely. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Omicron has yet to appear in the United States.

Omicron has dozens of new mutations, including many that could make the virus more contagious and bypass immune defenses. However, chairing the South African Medical Association, Dr. Angelique Coetzee noted on Saturday that hospitals in the country are not overrun by patients infected with the new variant, and many are not fully vaccinated.

He also said that most of the patients he saw did not lose their sense of taste and smell and only had a mild cough.

But this may not be as reassuring as it seems. D., also an infectious disease physician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Lessells said most of the cases in South Africa were initially found in Gauteng province, mostly among young people at universities and higher education institutions.

“Of course, we would expect the vast majority of these to be mild cases, regardless of vaccine status,” he said.

Dr. Lessells also noted that overall cases have only increased in the last two weeks: “There is barely enough time for infections to have time to progress to serious illness and hospitalization.”

He added that if Omicron causes serious illness, there will be a significant increase in hospitalizations over the next week or two, that will occur.

Dr. Lessells said scientists have yet to analyze infections in fully vaccinated people, but have already seen some cases of re-infection, which suggests the variant may be able to overcome natural immunity.

He and his colleagues plan to review the latest data on Monday to identify trends and plan for Omicron’s rollout.