Latest Research Shows The Omicron Variant As Dangerous As Other Corona Viruses

Health workers take nasal swab samples to test for COVID-19 in Washington DC, United States. (photo: doc. between)

JAKARTA – A study shows that the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus is intrinsically as severe as the previous variant. According to large-scale research in the United States, unlike the assumption made in previous research that Omicron is more contagious but less severe.

"We found that the potential for hospitalization and mortality was nearly identical between the two periods," said the four scientists who carried out the study based on records of 130,000 COVID-19 patients, referring to the last two years when different variants dominated the world.

The research, which is being peer reviewed in Nature Portfolio and uploaded in Research Square on May 2, was adjusted for comparison variables such as demographics, vaccine status and the Charlson comorbidity index that predicts the risk of death within a year of hospitalization for patients with certain inherited diseases.

According to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Minerva University and Harvard Medical School, research assuming that the Omicron variant is less severe was carried out in various places including South Africa, Scotland, England and Canada.

According to the researchers, their research could encounter a number of limitations such as the possibility that it understated the number of patients vaccinated in the more recent COVID-19 wave and the total number of infections, by excluding patients who underwent rapid home testing.