Click to Translate to English Click to Translate to French  Click to Translate to Spanish  Click to Translate to German  Click to Translate to Italian  Click to Translate to Japanese  Click to Translate to Chinese Simplified  Click to Translate to Korean  Click to Translate to Arabic  Click to Translate to Russian  Click to Translate to Portuguese  Click to Translate to Myanmar (Burmese)

PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
123456
Forum Home Forum Home > Main Forums > General Discussion
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Omicron snippet of common cold virus
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Now tracking the new emerging South Africa Omicron Variant

Omicron snippet of common cold virus

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Pixie View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: June 05 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 19668
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pixie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Omicron snippet of common cold virus
    Posted: December 03 2021 at 7:05pm

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-variant-may-have-picked-up-piece-common-cold-virus-2021-12-03/


NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.

This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system, said Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference, who led the study posted on Thursday on the website OSF Preprints.

Back to Top
KiwiMum View Drop Down
Moderator
Moderator
Avatar

Joined: May 29 2013
Status: Offline
Points: 29640
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KiwiMum Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 04 2021 at 12:19pm

That's interesting. We're all used to the common cold so maybe it will make Omicron a milder disease. I've only seen reports of mild illness from it. Yesterday I saw a report saying that at the moment it appeared to infect unvaccinated people who had already had Covid and vaccinated people regardless of previous Covid infection but it appeared not to be affecting unvaccinated people who had never had Covid. Obviously in Africa, most people are unvaccinated and have had Covid so it doesn't bode well for them if those observations prove to be accurate. Thankfully in all cases it appeared to be mild.

Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down