Severity of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant compared with the previous lineages: A systematic review

J Cell Mol Med. 2023 May 18. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.17747. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe Omicron variant was first detected in October 2021, which evolved from the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and was found to possess many mutations. Immune evasion was one of the notable consequences of these mutations. Despite Omicron exhibiting increased transmissibility, the rates of hospitalizations and deaths among patients infected with this variant were substantially lower when compared to other strains. However, concluding that the Omicron variant is less severe than other variants of SARS-CoV-2 requires consideration of multiple factors, including the vaccination status of infected patients as well as any previous infections with other variants. This review compiled data about any reported indicators of severity in Omicron-infected patients, including studies comparing Omicron with other variants while adjusting for confounders. A comprehensive search was conducted using different databases to target any studies about Omicron. In total, 62 studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Many studies reported a significantly reduced risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, need for oxygenation/ventilation, and death in Omicron-infected patients compared to patients infected with other variants, such as Delta. Some studies, however, reported comparable severity in Omicron infected patients as to other variants emphasizing a substantial risk for severe illness. Furthermo...

Source: Molecular Medicine - May 19, 2023 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Maryam Arabi Yousef Al-Najjar Nada Mhaimeed Mohammad A Salameh Pradipta Paul Jamal AlAnni Ali A Abdelati Ibrahim Laswi Bushra Khanjar Dana Al-Ali Abdallah Elshafeey Omar Mhaimeed Zain Burney Ashton D'Souza Pratyaksha Sinha Mohammad Bhatti Krishnadev V Pil Source Type: research