South Africa Medical Association chair says infection 'mild' in Omicron patients

Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and a doctor treating patients infected by the Omicron variant, said that a majority of cases of the new COVDI-19 strain has been mild, CNN reported.

She explained that they want to share the symptoms with people so that they understand that if they are tired for a day or two, have a scratchy throat, body aches and pain, they must see their doctor and get tested. Dr Coetzee pointed out that the Omicron variant is still in its early stages, and that it is usually not as severe at first, as it infects younger people and then spreads. 

“The majority of what we are presenting to primary health care practitioners are extremely mild cases, so mild to moderate. And so, these patients, it means they don’t need to be hospitalised for now. We try to get the message out there to the world to say listen, we’re not saying this is not going to be a disease going forward that’s going to cause severe disease; it will cause severe disease, but if this disease can cause to more than the majority of people mild symptoms, easily treatable at home, no need for admission, that’s a first prize,” Dr Coetzee told CNN.

Vaccinated Omicron patients not very sick: Dr Coetzee

The SAMA chair said that if they get that message out to the world, it means there will be fewer severe cases in the future, and fewer people going to the doctor. According to the doctor, vaccinated people, who had contracted the Omicron variant, are not really very sick.

Health officials from around the world are attempting to determine whether existing coronavirus vaccines are effective in protecting against illness caused by the Omicron strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) designated as a Variant of Concern last week. The mutation-rich variant was first discovered in South Africa, but it has since spread to a number of other countries.

While Coetzee's observations do not prove that vaccines are still effective in protecting patients from serious infection caused by the Omicron variant, they do suggest that existing vaccines may be effective in some cases.

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on Sunday that determining whether the Omicron variant can evade coronavirus vaccines currently in use in the United States will take weeks, The Hill reported. However, some companies, such as BioNTech and Novavax, are already working on vaccines to combat the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organisation said over the weekend that the Omicron variant poses a "very high" global risk, but health experts around the world are still gathering more data to determine the new strain's transmissibility and severity.

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)