Omicron variant of COVID-19 likely to infect throat than lungs, claims study

As the world continues to witness a rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, new studies have shown that the new strain of the virus could more likely infect the throat rather than the lungs. Scientists think that the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, appears to be more infectious, however, it is less deadly than other versions. Six studies have indicated that Omicron does not damage the lungs of the person as much as the Delta variant and other strains of coronavirus used to affect it, reported The Guardian. 

The studies which have made the revelation have not been peer-reviewed by other scientists. Deenan Pillay, professor of virology at University College London, has insisted that the Omicron variant is different from previous variants of COVID-19 as it “may have altered its ability to infect different sorts of cells.” Pillay added that the new variant of COVID-19 appears to infect the “upper respiratory tract -cells in the throat", as per the news report. Pillay further stated that the Omicron variant might have the ability to multiply cells in the throat rather than in the lungs. 

As per The Guardian report, if the virus has the capability to produce more cells in the throat, it means that the virus is more than transmissible. Researchers from the University of Liverpool’s Molecular Virology Research Group published a pre-print that indicated that Omicron leads to “less severe disease in mice.” According to the research, the mice infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have less weight loss, lower virus loads and less severe pneumonia. Prof James Stewart insisted that the animal model shows that the Omicron variant is less severe than the Delta variant and other variants and animals recovered rapidly from the virus, according to the news report. 

Mice with Omicron experience lower viral load

Researchers in the United States also discovered that mice with Omicron lost less weight and experienced a lower viral load, according to a pre-print published in Nature. Similar results were shown in Syrian hamsters by Neyts Lab at Leuven University in Belgium. Prof Johan Neyts pointed out that the virus might be better at infecting humans than hamsters, however, it is more likely to infect the upper respiratory tract. Researchers at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Virus Research have shown that Omicron could likely evade the immunity of people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, however, a booster dose restored “partial immunity”. 

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