The new Ómicron wave: what to do to delay its transmission in Portugal? | Opinion
First detected in Botswana and South Africa, the Omicron variant of covid-19 is now spreading around the world and has now been detected in at least 48 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). ) In Portugal, according to the monitoring report of the red lines for covid-19 of 12/10/2021, only 49 cases of Ómicron were identified. It is believed that this number will certainly be underestimated, given that Denmark (one of the countries in Europe with the highest genomic sequencing of the virus) has reported, in recent days, a threefold increase in Omicron cases.
In January 2021, when the Alpha variant was introduced, Portugal was one of the first (after the United Kingdom) to monitor its dissemination in real time (through ThermoFisher’s PCR-RT TaqPath technology laboratories) allowing it to be disseminated, namely , we realized in which regions there were “clusters”.
Now the variant omicron, like the Alpha variant, has a failure to detect the S gene in some brands of PCR-RT assays, which allows to analyze the faster way of suspected cases of omicron.
In fact, the company Unilabs created Intelli4COVID, a platform (co-financed by Compete 2020, Portugal 2020 and the EU) which, using artificial intelligence, could constitute a tool to analyze the evolution of the pandemic.
Given that the genomic sequence is time-consuming and limited in Portugal, will the Ricardo Jorge Institute, in partnership with Unilabs, be able to monitor the omicron with the use of PCR?
Recently, a new data came to complicate this way of screening the omicron with the PCR. Thus, two different strains of the variant have already been detected. omicron, classified as BA.1 and BA.2, and the second (also called omicron “Stealth”) may not be detected by PCR tests (since it does not have a deletion of the S gene that allows some PCR platforms to detect it).
With all these doubts about the difficulty in detecting it, it is important to act more intensely in measures to contain its transmission.
It would be ideal to detect the places where the omicron is a more circular and implement more surgical measures: making maps with the “hot spots”, Investigate outbreaks thoroughly, avoid/postpone events and carry messages for people to avoid them.
Border control is only justified as long as there is no transmission of community transmission; when this exceeds the number of introductions, then it will no longer make a difference… In this case, all the border logistics could be forwarded to other sectors, such as the testing kiosks that you want to publicize through city centers, so that access be facilitated, as it is clear that pharmacies are not responsive at this time, with the increase in demand.
The adjustment of closed spaces continues to be forgotten by the Government, despite the suggestion (little valued by the media) at the last meeting of experts on 11/19/2021, at Infarmed, on CO2 monitoring as a marker of air renewal.
Given the greater transmissibility potential of the Ómicron variant, increasing the quality of individual protection with the use of more useful masks should be reinforced (it should be explained that FFP2 masks have more protective capacity than surgical or textile masks). In fact, a recent study overlooked that the use of FFP2 masks should be preferred over surgical masks, as even loosely fitting FFP2 masks can reduce the risk of infection by a factor of 2.5 compared to well-fitting surgical masks.
Data that covid-19 cases with a Delta variant (and presumably more with the omicron) occur predominantly in the age group of 5-9 years, while there is no vaccination for this group, other measures are promoted, such as greater adherence to the use of masks in schools and the use of air purifiers when good rules are not possible. measured by CO2 monitors. In fact, the mandatory use of masks from the age of 6 years onwards has already been implemented in Belgium and the United Kingdom, where CO2 monitors and air purifiers will be distributed in schools.
To keep school going without interruption, it is essential to ensure that children between the ages of 5 and 11 are vaccinated. The recommendation, on 12-7-2021, of vaccination in this age group by the General Directorate of Health and the start of the vaccination program soon are great news!
If with these measures we manage to delay the local transmission of Omicron by a few weeks at that time, as the true clinical and immunological characteristics of Omicron will be more necessary and the intensity of the national response can be more correctly adjusted.
We’ll be able to beat Ómicron, for that we’ll just have to use all the tools we already have!
The author registered under the new spelling agreement