S.African doctor says patients with Omicron variant have "very mild" symptoms

[marmar]

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A South African doctor who was one of the first to suspect a different coronavirus strain among patients said on Sunday that symptoms of the Omicron variant were so far mild and could be treated at home.

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chair of South African Medical Association, told Reuters that on Nov. 18 she noticed seven patients at her clinic who had symptoms different from the dominant Delta variant, albeit "very mild".

Now designated Omicron by the World Health Organization, the variant was detected and announced by South Africa's National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Nov. 25 from samples taken from a laboratory from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16.

Coetzee said a patient on Nov. 18 reported at her clinic being "extremely fatigued" for two days with body aches and headache. .............(more)

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safrican-doctor-says-patients-with-omicron-variant-have-very-mild-symptoms-2021-11-28/

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

1. A couple of dozen patients...n/t

[Tomconroy]

2. David Leonhardt, the NYT Covid maven, makes the point

Today that it isn't good science to expect the worst when a new variant is discovered. Viruses tend to mutate so they can flourish. That means they become more transmissible but less deadly. Otherwise they would die when they kill off their hosts.
He also made the point that for those under 65 and vaccinated being infected now with Covid is less dangerous than many other every day activities in life.

[FalloutShelter]

3. THIS!!!!

This could be good news.

[Ms. Toad]

5. Less deadly does not inherently mean less dangerous - or a de minimus impact on your life.

Last edited Mon Nov 29, 2021, 01:31 PM - Edit history (1)

More than half of individuals with COVID report long COVID (symptoms lasting more than 6 months after the infection cleared (fatigue, mental health disorders, neurological impairment, difficulty breathing, among others). And, frankly, it hasn't been around long enough to rule out serious long-term effects.

[Tomconroy]

10. I put up an NPR article about long Covid a few days ago. I recommend it

Last edited Mon Nov 29, 2021, 12:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Since the CDC estimates that 150 million people have been infected with Covid which basically means 100 million people have been infected and aren't even aware of it.

[Ms. Toad]

13. That provides little comfort to the 50% of those who know they were infected

and who have ongoing life-altering symptoms from long COVID.

50% of 48,306,161 (those who know they had COVID less those who died from it) is still a lot of lives impacted - even if it isn't 50% of ALL people who have had COVID.

[Tomconroy]

14. Actual info on long Covid:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/18/1055071699/coronavirus-faq-what-is-long-covid-and-what-is-my-risk-of-getting-it

[StarryNite]

6. That NYT article is good.

From the same article comes this good advice:


"Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist, made a similar point in her Substack newsletter this weekend:

Do not take Omicron lightly, but don’t abandon hope either. Our immune systems are incredible.

None of this changes what you can to do right now: Ventilate spaces. Use masks. Test if you have symptoms. Isolate if positive. Get vaccinated. Get boosted."

[Zambero]

7. One can only hope

The 1918-19 "Spanish Flu" pandemic virus eventually mutated into a far less deadly variant. Mutations are inevitable. Pertaining to actual host impact, the course that a mutation(s) takes is less predictable.

[Disaffected]

12. Not very relevant.

Some viruses mutate rapidly (such as Covid and flu) but others such as Rabies do not if at all. Or rabies might mutate but if the mutations are not beneficial to the virus, they will not persist.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. This anecdotal evidence is useful

And would make sense.

Hopefully we'll have more information before the Holidays, but it's possible the Omicron Variant emerging is a positive development. f a less deadly version of Covid-19 becomes the dominant strain we could be through this virus quickly.

[Scrivener7]

8. If this holds up, that is the best news since the beginning of the pandemic.

If this is as contagious as they say, and as mild as they say, it could starve out other strains and provide immunity, all without making the sufferer sicker than a mild virus.

This could be terrific!

[Tomconroy]

11. We'll see. But when I read in the NYT Sunday some maven

Saying it might avoid your antigens but couldn't avoid the deep immunity T and B cells that protect you from serious illness I got a whole lot less excited about it.