According to the British Sky News Network, as the Aumechjong variant continues to sweep the world, the number of new cases in countries such as Japan, Russia and Romania has set a record for many consecutive days, and South Africa, which first discovered the mutant strain, is now preparing to say goodbye to it.
On January 21, local time, the South African Ministry of Health confirmed that in the past 24 hours, there were 3,520 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the country; 10 new deaths.
Omikeron was originally discovered by technicians at the South African laboratory. A few weeks later, Dr. Fareed Abdullah of Steve Biko Medical Hospital told the world that the Aumecreon they had discovered was a new variant strain that was different from the previous ones that had triggered the wave of infections.
Fareed Abdullah
Omiqueron is highly contagious, but it is much less likely to be hospitalized or fatal. Major studies in the UK and the US on the severity of the illness in Omiquerong confirm these initial findings in South Africa.
Abdullah told reporters: "The data shows that we are at the end of this wave of outbreaks, our case rate is almost at the level before the outbreak of the Omiljung outbreak, and we can now have a correct description of this round of the epidemic." ”
However, there is still a thorny issue that is plaguing the clinician and the South African medical community.
Seroprevity surveys show that more than three-quarters of the population has developed immunity from previous COVID-19 infections. This is also one reason why Abdullah and others consider Opmi Kerong to be relatively moderate.
However, there is one group that is considered particularly at risk: the millions of people living with weakened immune systems in South Africa – people living with hive (HIV).
AIDS is a major public health problem in South Africa, with an estimated 8 million people (13% of the population) infected with HIV. Antiretroviral drugs can suppress HIV and allow the body's immune system to function properly, however patients need to take the drug continuously.
When South Africa's already exhausted health system shifted to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of diagnosing people living with HIV, as well as maintaining contact with them, has been put on hold.
A south African public health organization estimates that about 3.6 million people are either undiagnosed or not receiving ongoing antiretroviral treatment.
"In South Africa, we want to make sure that more and more people living with HIV are treated so they don't end up developing AIDS patients, but in my humble opinion, that's where the current epidemic is turning," Abdullah said. Finding those who carry HIV and reintegrating them into the system is only part of the challenge; and new strains of the virus that may evolve further in their bodies are becoming trickier. ”
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, scientists found that immunocompromised people tend to suffer from severe infections for longer periods of time.
A previous study in South Africa showed how the coronavirus mutates in those who are untreated hive.
In one case, they traced a sample of the coronavirus from a 36-year-old HIV-infected person who was struggling to stick to her antiretroviral treatment regimen. However, over the course of her 7 months of contracting COVID-19, the virus acquired 32 mutations.
The risks are clear. The concern is that new mutations may continue to evolve and be transmitted by people with weakened immune systems.
Abdullah said: "This means a major challenge for public health because we have a hard time finding these people, how will we diagnose them? This will be where modern medicine must take us quickly. "