Can you get sick faster from the omicron coronavirus variant? What early data suggests
With the omicron coronavirus variant’s spread in the U.S. — and across the globe — it’s easy to wonder how it compares with the delta variant or the original virus strain.
Can you get sick quicker from omicron? Early data and experts suggest it’s likely.
“The window between infection and infectiousness may be shorter for the Omicron variant than the Delta variant,” the U.K.’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid said, based on recent analysis from the U.K.’s Health Security Agency, in a statement to Parliament on Dec. 6.
As of Dec. 17, the variant has been detected in at least 39 states, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, after it was first identified by South African researchers on Nov. 24.
Javid acknowledged that researchers “don’t yet have a complete picture of whether Omicron causes more severe disease or how it interacts with the vaccine.”
“I’ve NEVER seen anything like the speed of Omicron,” wrote Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, in a Dec. 20 Twitter post. “It’s as infectious as measles spreading in a non-immune population, with a much shorter incubation time therefore much faster doubling time.”
The variant could be infecting and multiplying “70 times faster than the Delta variant” and the original coronavirus strain “in human bronchus,” which carries air to the lungs, 24 hours after infection according to new research the University of Hong Kong outlined in a Dec. 15 news release. The work is under peer review for publication.
Some most commonly reported symptoms of omicron, based on a CDC study of 43 people infected with the variant, were “cough, fatigue, and congestion or runny nose.”
A recent investigation of an omicron outbreak in Norway found that the variant is “highly transmissible even among fully vaccinated people,” according to the findings published by Eurosurveillance, which is Europe’s “journal on infectious disease surveillance, epidemiology, prevention and control.”
“However, given the specific context of the outbreak in a high-risk setting for transmission, the findings must be interpreted with caution.”
A Christmas party omicron outbreak
In Norway, a company Christmas party with 117 attendees held on Nov. 26 in Oslo experienced an omicron outbreak, according to the preliminary findings published in Eurosurveillance.
One person at the party came back from South Africa the day the variant was detected there on Nov. 24, the investigation into the outbreak noted.
“Although there were no restrictions in place for events at the time in Norway, all attendees of the party were reported to be fully vaccinated and had been asked by the organiser to perform a rapid antigen self-test,” the findings said.
They “mingled at the venue before and after dinner, following which the bar and dance area was opened to the public.”
Of the 117 attendees, 111 were interviewed; they had an average age of 39, and 89% had already received two doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, according to the findings. None had gotten a booster shot.
Of the 111 attendees, 59% were confirmed cases and 14% were “probable cases.”
“A confirmed case was defined as a person who attended the party on 26 November 2021 and tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant up to 13 December, through either PCR variant screening and/or (whole genome sequencing),” according to the findings.
“A probable case was defined as a person who attended the party on 26 November and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR.”
“Assuming attendees were infected at the party,” it was discovered that there was a median omicron “incubation period of 3 days, which is short compared with previous reports for Delta and other previously circulating non-Delta SARS-CoV-2,” according to the investigation.
Of the 81 cases, 83% experienced a cough, 78% had a runny and stuffy nose, 74% felt fatigued and lethargic, 72% had a sore throat, 68% had a headache, and 54% ran a fever, the investigation found.
“The preliminary results of our outbreak investigation indicate that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC is highly transmissible among fully vaccinated young and middle-aged adults,” the investigation concluded.
It’s unknown how omicron may spread so easily
The CDC has acknowledged the rapid spread of omicron but said “how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown.”
More data is needed, according to the CDC, as to whether omicron causes “more severe illness or death than infection with other variants.”
Omicron made up an estimated 73% of new coronavirus cases between Dec. 12 and Dec. 18, according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends that everyone ages 5 years and older get fully vaccinated to help protect against this new variant as well as wear masks while inside public places.
The CDC recommends those 18 years and older get a booster shot “at least two months after their initial J&J/Janssen vaccine or six months after completing their primary COVID-19 vaccination series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.”
“I’ve had several fully vaccinated and boosted patients get infected within 24-36 hours of exposure,” Dr. Jonathan LaPook, CBS News’ chief medical correspondent, wrote of the omicron variant in a Dec. 18 Twitter post.
“So far, they are all doing well, with symptoms resembling a cold or mild flu.”
Omicron was first discovered in the U.S. on Dec. 1 in California.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Can you get sick faster from the omicron coronavirus variant? What early data suggests."
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