The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been leading to a swell in hospitalisations across the world. It’s also affecting the youngish population, especially children, due to which health experts are explosively recommending taking a vaccine shot.
But the heavily- shifted strain – some studies claim Omicron has further than 50 mutations – isn’t causing severe ails. Further than a dozen studies have been conducted in Omicron since its emergence in South Africa on November 24, and at least half a dozen say it causes milder complaint than former performances of the coronavirus.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, nearly children were reported infected with Covid-19 in the week ending December 23, the last week for which data is presently available, and a 50 per cent rise on numbers before in the month.
But the rates of severe illness remain much lower in absolute terms compared to aged age groups.
There have been 803 deaths of people aged 0-18 from Covid in the US, out of further than, since the epidemic began.
Early exploration out of Hong Kong grounded on lab testing of towel samples has shown Omicron replicates up to 70 times briskly in the bronchi, the airways leading into the lungs, compared to Delta, which may help explain its extreme spread throughout the population.
Its relative mildness could be explained by the same Hong Kong study that showed Omicron replicated 10 times slower in the lungs compared to Delta, and a hamster study from the University of Tokyo has borne this out.
In Britain, another poorly affected country after the United States, the government has said it believes the new variant is milder than the Delta variant.
The number of cases demanding mechanical ventilation beds has also remained steady through December, unlike former peaks in the epidemic.
The analysis was published by the UK Health Security Agency, after it worked alongside Cambridge University MRC Biostatistics unit to assay Omicron cases and Delta cases.
