Russia (bbabo.net), - When infected with omicron, the upper respiratory tract is mainly affected in the diseased, and the new strain does not penetrate into the lungs. This was announced by the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova.
COVID-19 continues to mutate, acquiring new forms, adapting to the human body. As a result of evolution, the disease caused by the "omicron" in most cases is milder - this is evidenced by the observations of foreign and Russian scientists and clinicians. “In search of such the most correct form, the most correct amino acid composition, the virus lost one of the receptors that ensured its ability to penetrate into the lung tissue,” said Popova (quoted by RIA Novosti). At the same time, it is too early to draw conclusions that the disease has become "harmless". It is impossible to say yet that the new strain will not cause post-COVID syndrome, other dangerous complications, since too little time has passed since the appearance of "omicron", Popova concluded.
A new infection often occurs with flu-like symptoms. But the treatment for influenza and coronavirus is different. The main risk with COVID-19 is the possible formation of blood clots, and the flu, on the contrary, may be accompanied by bleeding, so it is important to differentiate diseases in diagnosis. "It is important not to confuse (infections) and not to reassign different medications," Anna Popova explained. Therefore, now both ambulance services and emergency departments in hospitals provide rapid tests for coronavirus - in order to differentiate infections, to distinguish COVID-19 from the flu or banal SARS.
The head of Rospotrebnadzor also explained the reason why the requirements for achieving collective immunity are changing: now experts say that when the “omicron” spreads, at least 90% of the population should be immunized (that is, vaccinated or recovered). “At first we said that 60% of those immunized were enough, because the transmission rate of the very first variant, the Wuhan one, was low. Then we talked about 80%,” Popova noted. And since the contagiousness and infectivity of Omicron has reached almost the maximum levels of all coronaviruses known to us, the level of herd immunity should be more than 90%." Today, according to Rospotrebnadzor, herd immunity in the country is more than 64% - this figure is constantly changing, because people continue to get sick, vaccinated and revaccinated.
Coronavirus, as almost all experts testify, will remain in the human population. Therefore, vaccination against COVID-19 will be needed even after the end of the pandemic. Scientists are working to create a vaccine that protects against several strains of the virus at once. “On the example of influenza: today’s quadrivalent vaccine, a very good Russian one, contains four variants of the virus, two of influenza A and two of influenza B. If we are talking about coronavirus, then we already have at least three significant variants, three strain. And if they change each other while circulating, like with the flu, we need to take this into account and make a polyvalent vaccine. Scientists are working on this," Popova stressed. At the same time, 70% of patients who have confirmed "omicron" were not vaccinated and did not get sick before. This suggests that previously acquired immunity also provides protection against the new strain. Among those who fell ill again, the majority were ill more than a year ago, they are also mostly unvaccinated.
It is too early to say that the new strain is "harmless" and does not cause serious complications
An interesting point: during revaccination, scientists in Europe prescribe to change the drug. “In Russia, such a position has not been formulated as long as we are guided by the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, which allow revaccination with any (registered in the country) drug,” Popova said.
By the way
The editors receive questions from readers regarding the reduction of quarantine periods due to the coronavirus. In what cases is the isolation time reduced to 7 days or the quarantine is canceled altogether?"A person who has been in contact with a patient with COVID-19 must be isolated (in an observatory, at the place of residence) for at least 7 calendar days from the date of the last contact with a patient with COVID-19 or until recovery (in case of development of the disease) - this rule has entered into effective from January 26," Rospotrebnadzor explained.
This follows from the latest version of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules SP 3.1.3597-20 "Prevention of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)". The changes will come into effect on January 26, 2022.
The document states that "persons who have completed a full course of vaccination against COVID-19 within the last six months, and persons who have been ill with COVID-19 within the last six months, if they do not have symptoms of the disease, are not subject to isolation."As for people who have confirmed the infection, they need to wait for a negative test and a doctor's decision to return to work. “A patient who had a positive PCR test needs a negative test to go to work. And if a person is sick, then only the doctor determines the possibility of his going to work, and there are no other options,” Anna Popova explained.
The quarantine period, which was reduced from 14 to 7 days last week, is provided only for contacts.
In the meantime
The Convasel coronavirus vaccine does not cause allergies and is well tolerated. This was stated by the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) Veronika Skvortsova. According to her, the drug has a high immunogenicity and protective properties, regardless of virus mutations. "This vaccine is non-allergenic and well tolerated by humans," she said. On December 16, the FMBA sent data for the registration of Konvasel to the Ministry of Health. Skvortsova expects the registration of the vaccine to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022."Konvasel" will be the fourth type of domestically produced vaccine against COVID-19.
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