Wednesday December 8, 2021
Seven cases are known worldwide
Researchers discover ‘camouflaged’ omicron variants
Scientists discovered that there are two types of omicron variant. It is not easy to identify the new species as an omicron variant in PCR assays. Infection can still be reliably detected by tests in both variants.
Apparently, there is a new type of Omikron. British researchers came to this conclusion, and reports “WatchmanAccording to this, scientists talk about the “camouflaged” variant of Omicron, which is not easily identified with the help of PCR tests.
Although polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can detect infection with the virus, they cannot say for sure if an omicron is. This can only be clarified with a genetic test, the report says. Many of the mutations in the new Omikron variant are similar to those in the original, but lack a special genetic modification that allows them to be assigned to Omikron ancestry in the PCR process. Researchers cannot yet assess whether this new type of virus is more contagious. However, due to genetic modification, it can very well spread in other ways, they say.
The camouflaging variant was initially detected in the genomes of Covid in seven cases in South Africa, Australia and Canada, but it could already have spread more widely. If it turns out to be particularly contagious, the World Health Organization could classify it as a new ‘worrying variant’. How the camouflaged Omikron variant appeared in such a short time is unclear.