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The Omikron variant quickly dominated the world and replaced its predecessor, Delta. From other variants, apart from the highest infectivity, it is also distinguished by something else. This is the mutation with the shortest incubation period so far. How long does it take for symptoms to appear after infection? And how long does the Omikron patient infect others?
- Originating in the UK, the Alpha variant took five days for symptoms to develop. In the case of Delta, this time was shortened by one day
- The Omikron variant is even faster. It takes an average of three days from infection to the onset of symptoms
- This short incubation period is not good news, as it also means that contact with the virus carrier can lead to infection more quickly.
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
The omicron causes symptoms quickly. This is not good news
According to “The Atlantic”, the Wuhan virus, which started the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, took five to six days to multiply in the host’s organism and begin to cause disease symptoms. Each subsequent mutation was faster than the previous one. In the case of the Alfa variant, five days was enough, Delta shortened this time by another day.
At the moment it looks like Omikron has outperformed all of its predecessors – The virus is expected to multiply for only three days before the infected develop symptoms. If they appear at all, because it happens that the infection does not give any symptoms or that they are very mild and thus easy to overlook. Moreover, even when symptoms are present, there are times when an infection is not detected by coronavirus testing.
- See also: Why do so many vaccinated people die in Israel? [WE EXPLAIN]
What does this mean in practice? According to experts, first of all, the virus is even more difficult to contain. Imagine a situation where a person infected with this variant, asymptomatic, goes to work where he meets a lot of people or goes to dinner with his family. The virus circulates in the air and infects other people who, completely unaware, return home with it, pick up the child from kindergarten, etc. And pass Omikron on. By the time a person develops symptoms and realizes that they are sick, there will be a whole focus of new infections around them.
The rest of the text is below the video.
How long does a person infected with Omikron infect others?
A person infected with the coronavirus can pose a threat to others as early as two days before symptoms appear and for 10 days of ongoing infection. In the case of Omikron, this means that we can infect other people just 24 hours after contact with the virus carrier.
How long can we infect others? According to virologists, there is a risk of infecting other people for a few days after symptoms have subsided.
Hong Kong researchers found that Omikron multiplies very quickly, but only in the respiratory tract. There it happens as much as 70 times faster than in the case of the Delta variant. This, in turn, may explain why it is so easy to get infected with Omicron. However, this variant develops much less dynamically in the lungs. This is happening 10 times slower than the Delta.
What are the symptoms of an Omikron infection? These are the most common ones
The most detailed data on the symptoms of Omicron infection now come from the United Kingdom, where this variant is becoming dominant in an increasing area. The research conducted there as part of the ZOE COVID Study allowed for the collection of data from people who were infected with the new variant.
It turned out that they complained the most of five symptoms:
- katar
- headache
- feeling tired (light or strong)
- sneezing
- sore throat
On the other hand, in South African patients, there were cases where the infection was accompanied by night sweats.
Do you want to test your COVID-19 immunity after vaccination? Have you been infected and want to check your antibody levels? See the COVID-19 immunity test package, which you will perform at Diagnostics network points.
Also read:
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- Omikron-party – they want to get infected and get COVID-19 “over the head”
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