Less dangerous Covid-19 after omicron infection: Researchers find explanation for mild courses for the first time

Created: 07/04/2022 09:33

By: Juliane Gutmann

The omicron variant is highly contagious and partly responsible for the rapid spread of corona infections.

Why are the gradients often harmless?

Researchers find the cause.

When the new corona mutant Omikron was first reported, many citizens were unsettled.

The most common question was whether this was a more dangerous variant of the virus.

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Since the advent of the omicron variant, researchers worldwide have been analyzing its structure and whether the mechanisms of action of vaccinations and corona therapies also apply to the new mutant.

The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) reported on January 10 that the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is spreading at an alarming rate.

“It could soon replace the Delta variant, which currently dominates the world.

So far, little is known about whether currently available vaccines and drugs will be effective against this variant.

," says the DZIF report.

Fewer corona intensive care patients despite increasing Covid incidence: researchers are looking for the cause

However, it is currently becoming apparent that, despite the increasing number of corona infections, the life-threatening courses are not increasing to the same extent.

This is also supported by the currently declining numbers of the DIVI intensive care register.

As a result, the number of reported Covid-19 cases treated in intensive care medicine fell to 2,333 people across Germany on January 24.

A thesis that could justify this development: Omicron rarely leads to severe corona.

A research team from the Goethe University and the University Hospital in Frankfurt am Main and the British University of Kent in Canterbury are now investigating the cause.

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explains why Israel's clinics are reporting record numbers for the seriously ill .

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"Apparently Omikron cannot prevent the affected cells from producing interferon"

The researchers used cell cultures to investigate, among other things, how well omicron responds to corona drugs such as antiviral drugs.

A key study result:

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“Antiviral testing showed similar susceptibility of omicron and delta isolates to EIDD-1931, PF-07321332, remdesivir, favipravir, ribavirin, nafamostat, camostat and aprotinin, and thus to a range of drugs with different mechanisms of action.

This shows that the mutations in the omicron variant do not cause any significant changes in the viruses' sensitivity profiles to drugs," the researchers said in their study, which was published on the specialist portal Nature.

In addition, the scientists led by Denisa Bojkova from the University Hospital in Frankfurt came to the conclusion that Omicron is less able to block cellular defense mechanisms against viruses than Delta

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The viruses of the omicron variant are particularly sensitive to a non-specific, cellular defense mechanism, the so-called interferon response, according to a press release from the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

"Our cell culture experiments provide an initial explanation as to why omicron infections often result in mild clinical courses: Apparently, unlike delta, omicron cannot prevent the affected cells from producing and releasing interferon," says study author Professor Martin Michaelis from the University of kent

Interferons are part of the immune system: They are proteins or glycoproteins that primarily have an antiviral effect.