Cape Town Dec 5 (BUS): Precursors of the recently discovered omicron virus variant have likely been around for a very long time, according to their discovering partner, who hails from Germany, according to the German news agency (dpa).
“According to current knowledge, an early form of Omicron evolved as a separate viral species even before the appearance of alpha and delta,” Wolfgang Preiser of Stellenbosch University near Cape Town told dpa. He is a member of the research consortium that discovered the alternative.
This type of virus likely evolved over several months without attracting attention, Presser said. “The question is: Why has Omicron been hidden for so long and only starting now? Is one or two mutations still missing to be able to spread quickly?”
The oldest known evidence of the variant so far dates back to the first half of November.
The variant, which was first discovered in South Africa and Botswana, has a particularly large number of mutations. Among other things, they affect the prickly protein through which viruses attach to human cells.
In addition, there are mutations near the so-called furin cleavage site, a region that plays a role in virus uptake into human cells.
In Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control agency, four cases of the Omicron variant were confirmed by genome sequencing on Wednesday – all of them returning travelers from South Africa. The variant is suspected in eight other cases in Germany. However, experts assume that there are already more cases.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Omicron could be the dominant alternative in Europe within a few months.
The European Union Health Authority recently indicated that while there remain a number of uncertainties regarding transmissibility, severity of infection and potential impact on immune defences, preliminary data indicate that the disease is indeed present in Europe.
However, preliminary data indicated that Omicron has a clear advantage over the delta variant. The World Health Organization classifies Omicron as “of concern”.
Preiser assumes that Omicron is more transportable than Delta. He sees no conclusive signs that Omicron tends to lead to milder courses of the disease. It’s still too early for that. It’s also not clear if children are particularly susceptible to Omicron.
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