Thread by @sailorrooscout

HKUMed shows Omicron infects and multiplies 70X faster than Delta in the human bronchus, which may explain why it transmits faster, BUT also shows Omicron infection in the lung is significantly LOWER than the original virus, which may be an indicator of lower disease severity. 🧵

They found that Omicron replicates faster than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and Delta in the human bronchus. At 24 hours after infection, Omicron replicated around 70X higher than Delta and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.

In contrast, Omicron variant replicated LESS efficiently (MORE than 10X lower) in the human lung tissue than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, which may suggest lower severity of disease.

Some other threads and links that go into this research as well:
•

https://twitter.com/mugecevik/status/1471088936999137281?s=21

•bmj.com/content/371/bm…
•medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

What this is pointing to is that Omicron may be significantly more transmissible than Delta. HOWEVER, it is important to note that it seems there is LESS efficient replication in the lung and this may indeed suggest LOWER severity.

It is also IMPORTANT to note that “the severity of disease in humans is NOT determined only by virus replication but also by the host immune response to the infection.” In other words, make sure you are PROTECTED. You can read all this and more here: med.hku.hk/en/news/press/…

With all of this in mind, and based on Omicron’s transmissibility, YES, it WILL spread and it will spread QUICKLY. You do not want to be walking around with NO PROTECTION (AKA IMMUNE NAIVE). Get VACCINATED. GET BOOSTED. THIS is what makes the difference. medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

Some more studies that may be of interest today. Once again, make sure you are PROTECTED. That IS what makes a difference.
•biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
•cdn.who.int/media/docs/def…
•medrxiv.org/content/10.110…