Omicron is less severe and natural immunity works

Link to free download of my 2 textbooks

http://159.69.48.3/

Clinical outcomes among patients infected with Omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 variant in southern California

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.11...

Background

The Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly achieved global dissemination,

accounting for most infections in the United States by December 2021.

November 30, 2021 to January 1, 2022, Delta v Omicron

Using S gene target failure (SGTF) (99.7%)

Hospital admission

Lengths of hospital stay

Hospital admissions associated with new-onset respiratory symptoms

Intensive care unit (ICU) admission

Mechanical ventilation

Mortality

Group 1, omicron

N = 52,297, cases with Omicron variant infections

Hospital admissions, 235 (0.5%)

Mean follow-up, 5.5 days

88 admitted

ITU, 7

Ventilated, 0

Deaths, 1

Length of hospital stay, 3.4 days (70%) less than delta

Group 2, non – omicron (delta)

N = 16,982, cases with Delta variant infections

Hospital admissions, 222 (1.3%)

Mean follow-up, 15.8 days

189 admitted

ITU, 23

Ventilated, 11

Deaths, 14

Also

Omicron variant infection, reduced risk of hospitalization across age and comorbidity categories

Risk of symptomatic hospitalization was markedly reduced among cases who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection ≥90 days prior

Intrinsically less severe infection

Less severe in vaccinated and unvaccinated

Evidence for a reduction in severe outcomes among vaccinated cases with both Delta and Omicron variant infections in our study suggests substantial public health benefits from continued COVID-19 vaccination.

Dutch data

  / 1472470129350955012  

https://t.co/TJ6peBST2I

Common cold protection

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/23301...

Cross-reactive memory T cells associate with protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in COVID-19 contacts

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

Cross-reactive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2

52 COVID-19 household contacts

We enumerate the frequency of specific T cells

Spike, nucleocapsid, membrane, envelope and ORF1,

that cross-react with human endemic coronaviruses

Nucleocapsid-specific T cells

Limited protective function of spike-cross-reactive T cells

Our results are thus consistent with,

pre-existing non-spike cross-reactive memory T cells,

protecting SARS-CoV-2-naïve contacts from infection,

thereby supporting the inclusion of non-spike antigens in second-generation vaccines.