Immunity acquired through previous infection is less effective against Omicron than against other variants, but the risk of severe COVID-19 remains low.
. Now Abu-Raddad and others are revealing how well Omicron can evade antibodies produced during previous SARS-CoV-2 infections. “The ability of Omicron to infect people with either vaccine- or infection-derived immunity is a key part of what made the recent surge so large,” says Marm Kilpatrick, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Understanding reinfection rates is crucial for assessing “how infections might surge and if hospitals will be able to cope”, says Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.The first signs of Omicron’s immune-evasive properties came from data collected in South Africa, says Bennett.
The UK Office for National Statistics in Newport has also seen a sharp increase in possible reinfections in recent months, as part of its random sampling of households across the country. The survey counts a possible reinfection if four months have passed since the previous one. The reinfection risk was 16 times higher between mid-December last year and early January this year when Omicron dominated, than in the 7 months leading up to December when Delta was the dominant variant.
Such surveys could be underestimating the true rate of reinfection because some infections go undiagnosed, and some could have happened sooner after the first infection — especially in countries where cases of Omicron quickly followed a Delta wave, says Bennett. Multiple factors could explain the spike in reinfections, she says. With more people now already exposed to the virus, there is a higher chance of seeing reinfections. Omicron’s speedy spread also increases the chance. But the variant’s ability to evade immunity is probably playing a part, says Bennett.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bill Gates: Omicron did ‘a better job’ building immunity than COVID-19 vaccinesBillionaire Bill Gates said the omicron variant moved faster than COVID-19 vaccines, creating a high level of natural immunity.
Read more »
COVID-19 cases dropping in Indianapolis hospitals; Omicron variant 'fizzling out''The pandemic will end, but COVID is not going away,' said Dr. Chris Weaver with IU Health. 'We will see it stay around or less like the yearly flu. We don't know how it will play out yet.'
Read more »
'The pandemic will end, but COVID isn't going away': IU Health provides COVID-19 updateIU Health doctors say the number of COVID patients is going down, but hospitals remain busy.
Read more »
Covid-19: Five more Covid-related deaths and 2,951 casesThe total number of deaths linked to the virus reported by Stormont's Department of Health is 3,189.
Read more »
Covid-19: Rethink end to free Covid tests, Naomi Long urgesPeople must be financially supported to test and self-isolate, Northern Ireland's justice minister says.
Read more »
Covid-19: Four more Covid-related deaths and 2,235 casesThe total number of deaths linked to the virus reported by Stormont's Department of Health is 3,184 plus .
Read more »