COVID-19 Omicron Column News
A- The Omicron is now claiming almost 100% of the infected cases in the United States. Numbers of cases have reached 2,600 deaths a day. More cases than the delta strain on the population. The highest that has ever been with the Delta strain was 2000 daily deaths, during the last autumn. We know well that the Omicron causes less severe disease than any other strain of the virus. The unvaccinated and people older than 75 or people with underlying conditions are the groups the most endangered by the OMICRON. Half of the deaths in 2022 in January 2022 were among the over 75.
B- COVID death is higher in the Midwest. Chicago regarded more than 1000 deaths with 1/3 of the population being black and half of the victims are black as reports by the post. Il looks like the Omicron variant accounts for almost 100% of the virus circulating in the USA.
C- Natural immunity and long-term durability are characterized among unvaccinated individuals by using anti-spike antibodies as a first line of defense against SAAR-CoV-2. 1580 individuals underwent serologic testing in 2021. 55% tested positive for anti-RBD antibodies. If the evidence of natural immunity in the unvaccinated healthy US adults is up to 20 months after a confirmed COVID-19 infection, it is encouraging but unclear how these antibodies correlate with the protection against future SARS-CoV-2 infections.
D- Children can also get COVID-19 but their symptoms tend to be milder than adults and often they have no symptoms. They do have the same risk of getting the disease than any adult. The disease can be serious in children especially when they have underlying conditions and also when the children are less than a year old. Some children may develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) which is a serious condition requiring immediate medical attention. Your child should understand the situation while being around you to be able to wash their hands often, stay away from sick people and wearing masks and limiting their play-mates.
E- Teens also get sick with COVID-19 and their symptoms are milder. They have fewer hospitalizations among the young below the age of 19 and 90% of these adolescent-children will have mild to moderate cold-like symptoms like fever, runny nose, vomiting, cough, diarrhea. Older children may need to be hospitalized when they develop what we already called the (multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) or pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PMIS). We are still learning about the condition and. trying to understand why belly pain, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion and headache are encountered. Similar symptoms are seen in Toxic shock syndrome or Kawasaki disease involving the vascular system. Rarely, a child will develop respiratory problems, confusion and vomiting.
By Maxime Coles MD