Two pandemics running simultaneously; Omicron a 'deviant': expert
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New Delhi: Two pandemics are progressing simultaneously at the moment- Delta variant and kins are one and Omicron the other- since the Omicron is a 'deviant' of the Covid-19 progression script, virologist Dr T Jacob John told PTI.
The former director of the ICMR's Centre of Advanced Research in Virology said that Omicron did not "fathered or mothered by Wuhan-D14G, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa or Mu", and it is sure. Omicron's proximal parentage is unknown, but its "great great grandparent was Wuhan-D614G," he said.
D614 is an amino acid mutation in a protein that has been very common in SARS-CoV-2 viruses worldwide.
John said that even the diseases caused by the 'two pandemics' are different too since one is Pneumonia-hypoxia-multiorgan damage disease but the other an upper/middle respiratory disease. The latter pushes pre-existing chronic illness or old age 'beyond the wall', he said.
When asked whether upcoming variants will be more contagious but less lethal, John said that new pathogens adapt to human hosts and become more infectious but less harmful, but within limits. He reminded that Delta arrived late but was more contagious and pathogenic compared to earlier variants. Regarding the third wave of the pandemic, he said that metros where it started first, and it will first finish there too.
The highly infectious Omicron is behind the third pandemic wave in India. 2,71,202 new registered on the last day, and 1702 are Omicron cases. The cumulative count reached 3,71,22,164, and 7,743 out of it is Omicron.