The Omicron variant of the coronavirus, just six weeks after its appearance on the international stage, breaks one day after another the case records in one country after another – and in Greece – with scientists still not sure how serious it will turn out finally this new pandemic wave.
It is already visible that the new strain of the virus behaves very differently from the previous ones, both because it is different and because it encounters a different environment. Larger numbers of people are now infected or quarantined than ever before, with all that entails for the proper functioning of society and the economy. But in contrast to previous phases of the pandemic, most governments do not resort to austerity measures and “stumble”, thanks in part to solid evidence that vaccines continue to protect against serious disease and in the first indications that Omicron rarely causes a more serious clinical picture. and severe disease in relation to the Delta.
Scientists around the world, according to the internationally renowned journal Science, are not yet able to predict Omicron’s final report, and they cannot rule out that even if Omicron causes less serious Covid-19 cases, already overwhelmed by Delta hospitals will eventually be overloaded. Already in various countries such as the USA – but also in Greece – in recent days there is an upward trend in hospital admissions. At present, however, according to the New York Times, hospitals appear to be filling their intensive care units (ICUs) at a slower rate than their mere Covid-19 beds.
Virologists, epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists, microbiologists and other scientists are watching with anxiety and hope that the new wave will peak soon and then begin to fall, without in the meantime flooding the ICUs. So far a smaller percentage of hospitalizations – compared to previous pandemic waves – are proving so severe that patients end up in the ICU. However, in several developed countries, few hospitals are in crisis again, this time due to a lack of medical staff, due to the increased incidence of Omicron – something that has also happened in Greek hospitals.
“At the beginning of the pandemic we were worried about running out of things like respirators. “The real problem now is staff shortages,” said Dr. Ryan Maves, an infectious disease specialist at Wake Forest Medical School in North Carolina.
However, the general assessment of the doctors is that this wave of Covid-19 due to Omicron is different from the previous one of Delta. Someone infected with the new variant is much less likely to get seriously ill, although so many are infected that a not insignificant number eventually need some treatment, albeit of shorter duration than with the Delta or Alpha variant.
“On average – and I stress the average – the Omicron incidents are less serious. And that’s obviously good news for our patients, “said Dr. James Masser, head of the pathology department at Huston Methodist Hospital in Texas.
Thus, the burden so far is lower in ICUs and higher in other hospital units, which are under pressure from the growing number of admissions to single beds, which also increases the risk of coronavirus infection in other patients. Indicatively, 50% to 65% of patients in some New York hospitals are admitted to the hospital for another reason and then diagnosed positive with coronavirus. Having so many patients treated with asymptomatic Covid-19, which is then accidentally diagnosed by doctors, poses a risk to other hospital patients.
“And these patients need to be isolated. They should be treated as patients who can transmit Covid-19 to the hospital. And when you have less staff, then you really have a problem. “We hope not to cancel scheduled surgeries, but we are already considering it,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Hospital admissions in New York and other US states such as Maryland have already surpassed those at the peak of last winter. “We are seeing an increase in the number of admissions, but we are not sending so many patients to the ICU, nor are we intubating so many. In fact, most of our patients who come to the emergency room and test positive for coronavirus are then discharged, “said Dr. Rahul Sarma, head of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Hospital.
Although it is still too early to make definitive predictions, clinical evidence from hospitals so far confirms initial laboratory studies that Omicron is inherently milder and causes less common pneumonia. This is partly because it infects people who already have some immunity to either the vaccine or a previous Covid-19 infection. The vast majority of patients with Omicron in ICUs in the US – and beyond – are unvaccinated, immunosuppressed or otherwise vulnerable.
Given that there is a time lag between hospital admissions and ICU admissions, the latter are expected to increase in the coming weeks, according to US experts. The fact that there is no quick way for doctors to know if a young patient is infected with the Delta or Omicron variant often forces them to work in the “dark.”
On the other hand, Aris Katzourakis, a Greek professor at the University of Oxford, who specializes in the development of viruses, warns that new variants of the coronavirus may emerge with similar immunity and spread ability as Omicron, but which will also be more. And this new variant may already be released under the “radar”. “There are still many letters in the Greek alphabet that may be needed
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