Lok Nayak study finds 35 mutations in Omicron variant

New Delhi: A

study

conducted by

Lok Nayak Hospital

has shown that the

Omicron variant

, which is in circulation in India, has

35 mutations

. Of them, three are non-significant.

According to Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director of the hospital, the researchers in South Africa where the Omicron variant was detected first had found 31 or 32 mutations only. “We have found 35 mutations of which three are non-significant,” he said.

The Omicron variant is known to be less virulent as compared to the Delta variant but it is highly transmissible.

A study

conducted

in Hong Kong where the scientists infected the human lung tissue with different variants of SARS-CoV-2 to assess its effect showed the Omicron variant replicated about 70 times higher in the bronchus than the original SARS-CoV2 and the Delta variant. The experiment also showed that the Omicron variant replicated with much less efficiency in the lung.

“The new variant makes the virus stay longer in the throat, which makes it more transmissible. But because its capacity to replicate in the lungs is less, it does not cause severe symptoms. Only a few, who have a weak immune system, suffer from severe symptoms requiring hospitalisation,” said a senior doctor.

He, however, warned that higher transmission could put pressure on community immunity leading to severe disease in a fraction of cases and an increased burden on the healthcare system. TNN