Up to 1,000 times more contagious a carrier of the Omicron variant – What an American study showed

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A human with Omicron, labeled a “supertransmitter” was found to shed about 1,000 times more viral RNA than the maximum level shed by those infected with Alpha or Delta

A transponder infected by the Omicron variant of the coronavirusmay be shedding around him up to 1,000 more viral RNA in relation to the carriers of the Alpha and Delta variants of the virus, found a new American scientific research.

In general, those infected by the contagious variants Alpha, Delta and Omicron shed significantly more coronavirus in their environment, compared to the carriers of other variants (original Wuhan, Beta, Gamma). It was also found that those who contracted coronavirus after being vaccinated (even after a booster dose), they continue to shed the virus into the air, thus being contagious.

The researchers, led by Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, who made the relevant pre-publication on medRxiv (there is no regular publication in a scientific journal yet), according to “Nature”, studied 93 people with coronavirus (various variants), vaccinated and unvaccinated.

The participants were asked to talk, shout, cough or sneeze for 30 minutes in front of a device that collected and counted the particles of the coronavirus coming out of their bodies. A man with an Omicron, who was characterized “supertransmitter” was found to shed approximately 1,000 times more viral RNA than the maximum level shed by those infected with Alpha or Delta.

The researchers said that the cause of these differences remains largely a mystery, but it is likely to be related to biological factors, while behavior could also play a role (eg, the transmitter in question coughed more often than the others).

The study also confirmed that those infected with the coronavirus shed smaller amounts of viral RNA than those with the flu. Scientists do not rule out that future variants of the coronavirus will cause people to excrete even more infected particles.

See the scientific pre-publication by clicking here

RES-EMP

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