Omicron’s epicenter in South Africa, hospitalization and death toll do not rise despite surge

Reuters reported on the 29th (local time), citing a local expert, that the number of new confirmed cases has tripled as the new mutant omicron is spreading at a sharp pace in South Africa.

According to the report, Salim Abdul Kareem, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, who is serving as a senior adviser to the South African government during the pandemic, said at a press conference on the same day, “General hospitals across the country may be at risk of saturation within two to three weeks due to an influx of patients.”

The current number of daily confirmed cases in South Africa is around 3,000, but considering that it stayed in the 300 range just two weeks ago, the rate of increase is steep.

Professor Abdul Karim said, “Omicron isn’t clinically worse, and it certainly doesn’t show the same danger signs as before.”

◇ “Existing vaccines still have severe and fatal effects on Omicron”

Omicron mutations also appeared in South Africa two days after they were first discovered in Botswana on the 23rd. In addition to eight African countries, it is found in Hong Kong, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, and Portugal, and is spreading rapidly.

Above all, since there are more mutations than delta mutations, there is growing concern that they are avoiding both natural immunity and vaccine immunity previously acquired.

In this regard, Professor Abdul Karim said, “Existing vaccines are highly likely to still exert a protective effect against omicron mutations.

Vaccines trigger T-cell immunity, which is different from antibody immunity, which explains that T-cell immunity suppresses infection well. Professor Abdul Karim emphasized, “Even if there is some antibody evasion (of omicron mutation), it is very difficult to evade T-cell immunity.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa receives a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Kayelitsha General Hospital in Cape Town on February 17, 2021. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Choi Seo-yoon

According to medical staff who have been treating South African COVID-19 patients, Omicron has not caused serious illness so far. The medical staff said that all she showed was mild symptoms such as dry cough, fever, and cold sweat. Since the discovery of the omicron mutation in South Africa, there has been no sharp increase in hospitalizations or deaths.

In this regard, global public health experts are being cautious in drawing clear conclusions regarding the risks of Omicron. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that omicron mutation poses a very high global risk, although further research remains to be done about natural immunity and vaccine evasion potential.

First of all, the South African government is in a position to respond to the current crisis of infection by increasing the vaccination rate. President Cyril Ramaphosa said on the 28th that the government is reviewing a policy to make vaccination mandatory, which restricts the use of certain facilities and activities to those vaccinated. The vaccination completion rate in South Africa is 35%.

sabi@news1.kr