Omicron Intrinsically Less Virulent But Next Variant Likely to Be More Severe—Prof Ravindra Gupta

In a 20-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Prof. Ravindra Gupta, Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, first explained his research which establishes why Omicron leads to mild disease compared to other variants of Coronavirus. The first reason is to do with Omicron’s cleavage efficiency which means its ability to enter the cells of the body is restricted and not as effective as earlier variants. The second reason is to do with the way Omicron fuses with the cells of the human body. Unlike Delta, it doesn’t lead to the creation of giant infected cells called Syncytia.

Both these reasons explain why the disease Omicron causes is mild and that, in turn, explains the data we have from South Africa as well as the UK which shows that though cases of Omicron are exploding the incidence of severe disease as well as hospital occupancy is limited and a lot lower than it was during the Delta wave.
Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

Видео Omicron Intrinsically Less Virulent But Next Variant Likely to Be More Severe—Prof Ravindra Gupta канала The Wire