Omicron, symptom changes

Link for free download of John’s two text books, http://159.69.48.3/

Campbell’s Pathophysiology Notes, Amazon orders for the UK, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012HWC8SU/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AYC5Q7G3H2B3T4BCHQY0
Campbell’s Physiology Notes
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955379725/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_K0MXMAP26Y77TY4J90FB

Omicron, clinical picture (7th December)

Dr Angelique Coetzee, South African Medical Association

First to raise alarm about the new omicron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtELl7-zE_w

Totally different symptoms

Can be easily missed

Body aches and pains

Muscle pains

Headache

Tiredness (1 to 2 days)

Slight sore throat

No severe cough

No runny nose

Decrease in patients coming to doctors

South Africa vaccines

Pfizer

J and J

Hospitalizations, 99% unvaccinated

Symptoms more intense in unvaccinated

More intense but not severe

Body aches and pains

Muscle pains

Headache

Lateral flow testing and Omicron

Becomes positive after 24 hours up to 5 days

Very accurate

Omicron prevalence in SA

https://www.nicd.ac.za

Ref for graphics (3rd December data)

https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Update-of-SA-sequencing-data-from-GISAID-3-Dec-21-Final.pdf

SGTF has increased from 0.9% in October to 96.3% for November.

Children under the age of 12 years accounted for 7.9% of the SGTF positives,

and those 13 – 18 years old for 6.1%.

For week 47,

Hospital data from SA

https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NICD-COVID-19-Daily-Sentinel-Hospital-Surveillance-report-National-20211206.pdf

Live data, hospital patients who have tested positive

https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/disease-index-covid-19/surveillance-reports/daily-hospital-surveillance-datcov-report/

Omicron and common cold

https://osf.io/f7txy/

Omicron has insertion mutation ins214EPE

(From the common cold, HCoV-229E coronavirus)

Could have been acquired by switching

Involving the genomes of other viruses that infect the same host cells as SARS-CoV-2

It is plausible that the Omicron insertion
could have evolved in a co-infected individual

PFIZER AND BIONTECH PROVIDE UPDATE ON OMICRON VARIANT

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-provide-update-omicron-variant

Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine neutralize the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529 lineage),

while two doses show significantly reduced neutralization titers

Data indicate that a third dose of BNT162b2 increases the neutralizing antibody titers by 25-fold compared to two doses against the Omicron variant;

titers after the booster dose are comparable to titers observed after two doses against the wild-type virus which are associated with high levels of protection

As 80% of epitopes in the spike protein recognized by CD8+ T cells are not affected by the mutations in the Omicron variant, two doses may still induce protection against severe disease

The companies continue to advance the development of a variant-specific vaccine for Omicron and expect to have it available by March

in the event that an adaption is needed to further increase the level and duration of protection – with no change expected to the companies’ four billion dose capacity for 2022