“heads within the next few weeks”

omicron, i am Eleven cases related to Italy, The latest one is a 30-year-old Japanese who was found positive at the Tokyo airport returning from a holiday in our country. Seven are part of the Caserta cluster, which was originated by a manager who came positive from South Africa. Two others have been reported in recent days in Bolzano and Vicenza. Yesterday, the Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology at the AO of Sassari confirmed that the 28-year-old rugby player, who had returned from Johannesburg, was infected with the new variant identified in Botswana and South Africa. Fortunately, he didn’t transmit the virus to anyone, also because he wisely isolated himself once he returned to Alghero.

Interesting data from trials that studied 43 passengers on the Amsterdam-Fiumicino flight and 118 on the Fiumicino-Alghero flight, which were used by the young athlete to return to Sardinia after the first leg between South Africa and the Netherlands. None tested positive and this represents a significant demonstration that, thanks to the constant air exchange guaranteed by HEPA filters on airplanes, transmission is not that easy, even a very contagious variant like Omicron. also for.

This conclusion, however, must be taken with a grain of salt: The 118 passengers of Fiumicino-Alghero flight are still in quarantine and will be subject to a control swab today. Caserta’s manager and the rugby player both had a test before leaving and they were negative, so it would also be necessary to consider the reliability of the tampon in identifying infection with the new variant. Omicron’s eleventh case linked to our country appears to be – even if new confirmation is needed – of a thirty-year-old Japanese who, according to local media reports, had been in Italy for a long time and returned with a halt in Frankfurt. She was swabbed upon arrival, at Haneda, one of Tokyo’s two airports, testing positive for Omicron.

The man was vaccinated with Moderna (a second dose in August), a description that also links him to the Sardinian rugby player, Caserta, and his family’s manager. So in some cases the figures are not there, but they confirm scientists’ fears that the Omicron vaccine bypasses protection. In the same way, however, there is another element that unites the eleven infected Italians: all are asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms (even the manager’s mother and mother-in-law, elderly). It is necessary to understand whether this happens thanks to the safety of the vaccine or because the symptoms of omicron are mild on average, as also confirmed by Anthony Fauci.

However, one more data needs to be added: i infection in south africa are increasing at rates never seen before and even if this was true (it remains to be demonstrated) that there are less severe cases than in other types, when very high numbers of people become infected, even that even a low percentage of non-light disease is severe enough to send wheezing to hospitals. So far Omicron is running fast: there are 336 infections in the United Kingdom alone and Health Minister Javid explained: “None ended up in hospital, but we are facing a community transmission,

Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia explains: “Omicron will become the dominant form within the next few weeks or at least a monthAccording to the ECDC, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, “many EU countries – Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain – have also detected cases without an epidemiological link with areas in which it is considered a community Documented or regarded as broadcast. This indicates that an unscheduled community transmission may be in progress in these countries.’

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Eighteen European countries have already received the new version. Reports of infection from Omicron (although almost always the result of travel to Africa) come from all over the world: Russia, Nepal, Thailand, Argentina, USA. The blocking of flights didn’t stop the version that was probably already in Europe and the US for a few weeks. The reactions of the African states were very harsh. According to Sarafa Tunji Isola, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, the restrictions imposed by the British are “apartheid of travel”.

South African scientist Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Sequencing Platform’s Laboratory, is also very harsh: «If the world continues to punish Africa for discovering omicrons and scientists use our data, who will rediscover other data in the future? will share? They blocked Africa and caused huge economic costs. Countries around the world are now stockpiling more vaccines for boosters, antivirals, genotyping reagents, rather than helping. With our data, pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines for Omicron, which one will they go to first? Who will benefit? Will profits go to developed countries and will Africa suffer economic losses?”

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