Omicron Raises Possibility of Hybrid with Common Cold... Carries Common Cold Genetic Code

US Researchers Publish Paper Containing Omicron Variant Genome Sequence Analysis
Viruses Usually Evolve Toward Higher Infectivity but Lose Traits Causing Severe Symptoms

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy International Desk Reporter] There is a possibility that the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is a hybrid with a common cold virus. This is why Omicron is analyzed to exhibit high infectivity.

On the 4th (local time), according to The Washington Post (WP), researchers from the U.S. biomedical information analysis company Nference recently released a paper containing the nucleotide sequence analysis results of the Omicron variant.

According to the paper, unlike the existing COVID-19 virus, the Omicron variant possesses genetic codes typically found in common cold viruses.

The researchers hypothesized that such changes may have occurred within a host simultaneously infected with the existing SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, and the HCoV-229E virus, which is also a coronavirus but only causes the common cold.

The genetic codes identified by the researchers have not been found in other COVID-19 variants except for Omicron.

Benki Sundararajan, a biotechnology expert and co-author of the paper, stated that Omicron and HCoV-229E share a 'remarkable' similarity, suggesting that COVID-19 may have better adapted to the human host, potentially allowing it to evade some immune responses.

He added, "Viruses typically evolve towards higher infectivity while losing traits that cause severe symptoms," but also noted, "More data and analysis are needed to confirm whether Omicron is such a case."

This research is in the preprint stage and has not yet undergone peer review.

Since South Africa first reported the presence of the Omicron variant to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 24th of last month, the variant has spread to at least 40 countries. In South Africa, the daily new confirmed cases increased 6.5 times in just eight days, from 2,465 on the 25th of last month, immediately after the Omicron variant was reported, to 16,055 on the 3rd of this month.

Meanwhile, Zhong Nanshan, a leading Chinese infectious disease expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stated at the '2nd Dawan District Vaccine Forum' held in Shenzhen, China, on the 3rd, "There is no need to fear Omicron so much," adding, "Omicron is certainly highly contagious, but its symptoms are relatively mild."

Zhong said, "Based on feedback from South Africa, Omicron's pathogenicity was not very strong," and "urgent research is underway to determine whether the current vaccines' protective effects are reduced." He had previously predicted at a forum held in Guangzhou on the 28th of last month that Omicron's impact might not be significant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.