Omicron Variant has entered in Gujarat. The first case is registered in Jamnagar. The latest research on ‘Omicron’ suggests that it likely acquires one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus and that can be the one that causes the common cold.
The important thing to note is that this generic sequence did not appear in any earlier versions of Covid but this sequence is prevalent in the common cold and human genome.
But inserting this particular snippet Omicron is making itself more human and thereby evading an attack from the human immune system.
This initial research suggests that the virus transmits easily and causes mild or asymptomatic disease. It may take several weeks to get answers as to whether it is like delta which caused severe disease.
According to earlier research, it was found that cells in the lungs and the gastrointestinal system can keep COVID and the common cold simultaneously. This in a way causes viral recombination. Viral recombination is a process in which two different viruses interact in the host cell and make copies that have materials from both.
According to Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts based data analytic firm nference,” The same genetic sequence appears many times in one of the coronaviruses that cause colds in people known as HCoV-229E and in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. This mutation could have first occurred in a person infected with both pathogens when a version of SARS-CoV-2 picked up the genetic sequence from the other virus.
One important thing to note here is that Omicron was reported in South Africa where there is the highest rate of HIV. HIV weakens the immune system hence making the person vulnerable to infections with common cold viruses and other pathogens.
