London Dec 19 (BUS): A British study has found that Omicron may be less efficient at attacking the lungs than previous variants of Covid-19.
The Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease study concluded that mutations in the virus’s spike protein, which makes it able to evade antibodies, may also reduce how it replicates in the lungs and causes severe disease.
The study summary stated, “These observations highlight that Omicron has acquired immune-evading properties while impairing reproductive and pathogenicity-related properties.”
Study leader Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge, said challenges remain despite the results that appear positive.
He tweeted: “What does this all mean? Active infection of lung cells can correlate with the severity of lung disease. Companion cells or merging cells are often seen in respiratory tissue taken after severe disease. Delta was very good in both, unlike Omicron. Needed to More work.
“In summary, this work indicates that Omicron appears to be becoming more immune evasive, but properties associated with disease progression *may* be attenuated somewhat. However, the significant growth of Omicron presents a significant public health challenge.”
It comes after the country’s medical advisory group SAGE gave a situation update and said there are “almost certainly hundreds of thousands of new omicron infections per day” in England, leading to reports that strict restrictions on the pandemic could be imposed after Christmas.
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