Dr. Coetzee’s Observations on Patients Who Have Contracted the Omicron Variant: “Unusual and Non-Delta Symptoms”
It is not yet clear whether the new variant Omicron, emerged in South Africa, is more or less dangerous than the other variants Covid that we have known. To find out, it will take more time and the analysis of a lot more data.
The doctor Angelique Coetzee, president of the South African Medical Association, and one of the first observers of the new variant explained her experiences in contact with this new mutation: “It actually all started with a patient who told me he was just extremely tired the last few days and had these muscle aches and a bit of a headache. He had a pain in his throat and he had neither cough nor loss of smell and taste. “ Symptoms seem slightly different than those of the Delta variant.
Omicron variant, symptoms other than Delta
Coetzee said that she visited other patients that same day with the same symptoms, different from the typical ones of the Delta, and this prompted her to give the alarm to the South Africa Vaccine Advisory Committee: “From what we are seeing in South Africa, these are mild cases. I’ve talked about it with my other colleagues and they see the same picture. “
Omicron variant, much more data is needed
It is important to point out that the study conducted by Coetzee still based on very few cases, the data are not sufficient to draw a complete picture. According to the first observations ofWHO, this strain appears to increase the risk of reinfection. What worries the doctors is the complex mutational profile of Omicron which, at the level of the protein Spike, show 32 mutations compared to the original strain. In comparison, the Delta variant has 9 Spike mutations.