Omikron: General Practitioner Dr. Christoph Dachs on the virus variant in the podcast
The corona pandemic has had Austria and the world in a stranglehold for almost two years. The various mutations, such as the current Omikron, always present us with new challenges. “The virus is now an absolute chameleon,” emphasizes Dr. Christoph Dachs, President of the Austrian Society for General and Family Medicinein the podcast. “At first it was said that a cold actually excludes a coronavirus disease. Today we have to think of corona every time we see signs of infection.”
The currently rampant Omikron variant also provides a new challenge: “Those who have recovered from previous Corona variants only have 19 percent protection against Omikron, even those who have been vaccinated twice are not very safe,” explains Dachs. According to the study data, a booster vaccination would help. “Here the protection is between 60 and 75 percent – that is still more than the conventional flu vaccine helps against the flu,” says the doctor.
Omikron’s risks and opportunities
The omicron mutation was rated as worrying by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is currently spreading rapidly in Austria. “The danger of Omikron has to be put into perspective. Although this mutation is significantly more contagious than previously known variants, its course is often milder,” emphasizes Dachs. That would offer an opportunity: “If we let Omikron rush through the population, I think we would achieve herd immunity,” the general practitioner outlines the scenario. “I see Omikron as an opportunity that the pandemic could end.” However, this variant would also have risks: “This would send many infected people or contact persons into quarantine. This could become a problem, especially in the health sector, if there is a lack of staff.”
In the event of global herd immunity, the coronavirus would continue to accompany us, “but no longer in this massive form”, i.e. badger, which at the same time restricts: “If there is no variant that challenges us again.”
What harms Ivermectin causes
The Salzburg family doctor thinks little of the horse deworming agent ivermectin, which was administered in some corona cases: “The data that speak for taking ivermectin are based on a study in which the virus was mixed with the worming agent in a test tube. “Here you have seen that the agent can kill the virus in high doses. However: “In clinical studies in humans it has shown no effect at all. If you dose it higher, you damage your kidneys,” warns the expert.
Will the corona pandemic end in 2022?
Dachs also loses admonishing words on another topic: “I see the compulsory vaccination ambivalently: On the one hand, a high willingness to vaccinate would offer us relative security. On the other hand, it would lead to a division in society.” His wish for the new year? “That the Omicron variant has the potential to end the pandemic”.
(Source: SALZBURG24)