Email this article Evaluation of the effect of vaccination on transmissibility and pathogenicity of Omicron variant and its comparison with other SARS-CoV-2 variants
Abstract
The new variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has once again sounded the alarm on healthcare systems worldwide and has caused concern in some countries. This variant has been identified in South Africa and initially called B.1.1.529 and later renamed Omicron by the WHO. The transmissibility and immune evasion in the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) is higher than the previous variants. Compared to the previous dominant variant, which was called the Delta variant, the Omicron variant has a very high transmission power but luckily, Omicron's symptoms are less serious. According to the WHO, the Omicron variant has the potential to re-infect people who already have other variants of SARS-CoV-2. Omicron contains at least 32 mutations in the spike protein also other proteins that are required for viral replication and it is twice the size of delta variant. Half of the mutations in this variant occur in the area of the virus through which they bind to the cells of the human body and cause infection. The Omicron variant likely developed in one person during chronic infection with an immune system deficiency (possibly untreated HIV/AIDS). It is possible that injecting a booster dose of existing vaccines and subsequently increasing antibody levels will provide adequate protection and an appropriate barrier against Omicron. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the Omicron variant and compare it with other SARS-CoV-2 variants and the effect of a booster dose in preventing disease progression.
Keywords
Full Text:
Full-text PDFReferences
Fan Y, Li X, Zhang L, Wan S, Zhang L, Zhou F. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant: recent progress and future perspectives. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2022; 7(1):141.
World Health Organization Classification of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS‐CoV‐2 Variant of Concern. Accessed November 26, 2021. Availible from: https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2021-classification-of-omicron-(b.1.1.529)-sars-cov-2-variant-of-concern
Tarcsai KR, Corolciuc O, Tordai A, Ongrádi J. SARS-CoV-2 infection in HIV-infected patients: potential role in the high mutational load of the Omicron variant emerging in South Africa. Geroscience. 2022:1-9.
Roomaney RA, van Wyk B, Cois A, Pillay-van Wyk V. Multimorbidity Patterns in a National HIV Survey of South African Youth and Adults. Front Public Health. 2022; 10:862993.
Griffin BD, Chan M, Tailor N, Mendoza EJ, Leung A, Warner BM, et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in the North American deer mouse. Nat Commun. 2021; 12(1):3612.
Quarleri J, Galvan V, Delpino MV. Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2: a quest to define the consequences of its high mutational load. Geroscience. 2022; 44(1):53-6.
Kannan S, Shaik Syed Ali P, Sheeza A. Evolving biothreat of variant SARS-CoV-2 - molecular properties, virulence and epidemiology. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2021; 25(12):4405-12.
Aggarwal A, Stella AO, Walker G, Akerman A, Esneau C, Milogiannakis V, et al. Platform for isolation and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variants enables rapid characterization of Omicron in Australia. Nat Microbiol. 2022; 7(6):896-908.
Duong BV, Larpruenrudee P, Fang T, Hossain SI, Saha SC, Gu Y, et al. Is the SARS CoV-2 Omicron Variant Deadlier and More Transmissible Than Delta Variant? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(8).
Shao W, Zhang W, Fang X, Yu D, Wang X. Challenges of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant and appropriate countermeasures. J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2022; 55(3):387-94.
Konings F, Perkins MD, Kuhn JH, Pallen MJ, Alm EJ, Archer BN, et al. SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Interest and Concern naming scheme conducive for global discourse. Nat Microbiol. 2021; 6(7):821-3.
Resende PC, Bezerra JF, de Vasconcelos RT, Arantes I, Appolinario L, Mendon-ça AC, et al. Spike E484K mutation in the first SARS-CoV-2 reinfection case confirmed in Brazil. Genom Epidem. 2021; 10:2021.
Leung CK, Kaufmann TN, Wen Y, Zhao C, Zheng H, editors. (2022). Revealing COVID-19 Data by Data Mining and Visualization. In: Barolli, L., Chen, HC., Miwa, H. (eds) Advances in Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems. INCoS 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 312. Springer, Cham.14. Ingraham NE, Ingbar DH. The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2: Understanding the known and living with unknowns. Clin Transl Med. 2021; 11(12):e685.
Ingraham NE, Ingbar DH. The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2: Understanding the known and living with unknowns. Clin Transl Med. 2021; 11(12):e685.
Kumar S, Thambiraja TS, Karuppanan K, Subramaniam G. Omicron and Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2: A comparative computational study of spike protein. J Med Virol. 2022; 94(4):1641-9.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Implications of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 variant of concern (Omicron) for the EU/EEA – first update. 2 December 2021. ECDC: Stockholm; 2021.
Shamabadi A, Akhondzadeh S. Coronavirus Vaccination and Mortality in the Omicron Outbreak in Iran: Mortality Reduction due to Attenuated Pathogenicity and Booster Vaccine Doses. Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2022; 14(2):102-3.
Machado BAS, Hodel KVS, Fonseca L, Pires VC, Mascarenhas LAB, da Silva Andrade LPC, et al. The Importance of Vaccination in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Brief Update Regarding the Use of Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel). 2022; 10(4).
Ahmadi A, Hekmatnezhad H. The sound of getting rid of coronavirus by RNA interference technology: RNAi against COVID-19. J Curr Biomed Rep. 2020; 1(2):45-7.
Marta RA, Nakamura GEK, de Matos Aquino B, Bignardi PR. COVID-19 Vaccines: Update of the vaccines in use and under development. Vacunas. 2022. [In press]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacun.2022.06.003.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters. Availible from; https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html.
Burki TK. Omicron variant and booster COVID-19 vaccines. Lancet Respir Med. 2022; 10(2):e17.
Abed HM, Dizaji PP, Hekmatnezhad H, Sabati H, Zare D. A mini‑review of the validity, quality and efficacy of candidate vaccines in controlling the COVID-19. J Curr Biomed Rep. 2021; 2:3-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52547/jcbior.3.2.50
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2022 © The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.