COVID Advisor

I’m still on a holiday blogging schedule, but a patient just sent a whacky blog on Omicron so I thought it was time to respond. So here’s an update on all things Omicron. Let’s dig in. Omicron Hospitalization Update Early on in this pandemic, the epidemiologists had a message that was quickly drowned out by the media. That message was simple. There was no way to avoid the total number of deaths that would happen, as we didn’t have treatments and we didn’t have vaccinations back then. The only thing shutdowns would do is to “flatten the curve”. Hence, it was all about protecting the hospital systems. Meaning moving hospitalizations that might happen in March of 2020 into April or May. Here at the end of December of 2021, the only metric we should be paying attention to is hospitalizations. Why? We have a highly infectious variant that will likely infect most people. Each time it does that and someone recovers, they have immunity. If that person was vaccinated, then based on what’s being

ASSOCIATED PRESS  —  U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials warn of a tsunami of new infections from the omicron variant that could overwhelm hospitals. Paxlovid is no. 1 in this drug league table The drug, Paxlovid, is a faster, cheaper way to treat early COVID-19 infections, though initial supplies will be extremely limited. All of the previously authorised drugs against the disease require an IV (intravenous) or an injection. An antiviral  pill from Merck  also is expected to soon win authorization. But Pfizer’s drug is all but certain to be the preferred option because of its mild side effects and superior effectiveness, including a nearly 90% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get severe disease

The  World Health Organization  on November 26, 2021 classified the B.1.1.529 variant, or Omicron, as a SARS-CoV-2 "variant of concern," saying it may spread more quickly than other forms of coronavirus. The Delta variant remains dominant worldwide, accounting for 99.9% of U.S. cases, and it is not yet clear whether Omicron will be able to displace Delta,  said  Dr. Graham Snyder, medical director, infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. But the new variant has over 30 mutations in the part of the virus that current vaccines target. It is also suspected of driving a spike in new infections in South Africa.  COVID-19 Omicron Variant Treatment? According to  WHO , individuals are reminded to take measures to reduce their risk of COVID-19, including proven public health and social measures such as wearing well-fitting masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, improving ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and g

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Major differences in how efficiently Omicron and other variants of the coronavirus multiply may help predict Omicron's effects, researchers said on Wednesday (Dec 15). Compared to the earlier Delta variant, Omicron multiplies itself 70 times more quickly in tissues that line airway passages, which may facilitate person-to-person spread, they said. But in lung tissues, Omicron replicates 10 times more slowly than the original version of the coronavirus, which might contribute to less-severe illness. A formal report of the findings is under peer review for publication and has not been released by the research team. In a news release issued by Hong Kong University, study leader Dr Michael Chan Chi-wai said, "It is important to note that the severity of disease in humans is not determined only