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Omicron looks like it might have changed the nature of the infection from a lower respiratory infection to an upper respiratory one leading to less serious infe

Omicron looks like it might have changed the nature of the infection from a lower respiratory infection to an upper respiratory one leading to less serious infections. Let’s hope they are right.

riffraff 5y ago
Do you have a source for this? Everything I've read about omicron until now is "we don't know".
- _y5hn 5y ago
  It was in news. It is indicated, meaning "looks like it, but we need more data to confirm thoroughly".
- mormegil 5y ago
  As Noah Smith wrote: [0] > it’s easy to delude ourselves into unreasoning optimism in the face of an onrushing threat. It will still be weeks or even months before we know for sure whether Omicron is a step in the hoped-for transformation of Covid into yet another common cold virus, or whether it’s just another deadly super-variant. But interestingly, there is now some research showing a possible mechanism by which Omicron might be both more contagious and less harmful. A new study from the University of Hong Kong shows that Omicron replicates much more quickly than Delta in the upper airways, but much less quickly in the lungs, where Covid does its real damage. The study: https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-cov-2-infection https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-c... [0]: https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/omicron-update-inflation-update https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/omicron-update-inflation-u...
- NicoJuicy 5y ago
  Previous research from Hong Kong mentioned this information. Spreads less in the lung, much more in the nose. Not: this is lab info ( = no human protection kicking in. The title is kinda sensational because of that) https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-cov-2-infection?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=press_release https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-c...

Omicron looks like it might have changed the nature of the infection from a lower respiratory infection to an upper respiratory one leading to less serious infections. Let’s hope they are right.

riffraff 5y ago

Do you have a source for this? Everything I've read about omicron until now is "we don't know".

_y5hn 5y ago
It was in news. It is indicated, meaning "looks like it, but we need more data to confirm thoroughly".
mormegil 5y ago
As Noah Smith wrote: [0] > it’s easy to delude ourselves into unreasoning optimism in the face of an onrushing threat. It will still be weeks or even months before we know for sure whether Omicron is a step in the hoped-for transformation of Covid into yet another common cold virus, or whether it’s just another deadly super-variant. But interestingly, there is now some research showing a possible mechanism by which Omicron might be both more contagious and less harmful. A new study from the University of Hong Kong shows that Omicron replicates much more quickly than Delta in the upper airways, but much less quickly in the lungs, where Covid does its real damage. The study: https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-cov-2-infection https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-c... [0]: https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/omicron-update-inflation-update https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/omicron-update-inflation-u...
NicoJuicy 5y ago
Previous research from Hong Kong mentioned this information. Spreads less in the lung, much more in the nose. Not: this is lab info ( = no human protection kicking in. The title is kinda sensational because of that) https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-cov-2-infection?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=press_release https://www.med.hku.hk/en/news/press/20211215-omicron-sars-c...