Omicron surges after Dec 25, genome sequencing report shows
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Almost three-fourths of the Covid-19 patients, who came to hospitals in Chattogram after December 25, were infected with Omicron variant, according to results of genome sequencing.
Done at Chittagong General Hospital and Agrabad Maternal and Child Hospital for over two months since November 2021, the genome sequencing report was published on January 20.
Genome sequences from samples of 30 patients who were treated between November 1 and December 25 were infected with the Delta variant, show the test results.
The scenario changed after December 25 and doctors involved with the process said almost 75 per cent of the patients were then infected with the Omicron variant.
Two patients were also diagnosed with the most recent type of Omicron named BA2, which has spread to several countries including the US, India, China and Oman.
“It’s not possible to come to any conclusion by analysing a few samples of the victims of Omicron in Chattagram,” said Dr. HM Hamidullah Mehedi, one of the project leads. “At least a few hundred sequences would be needed to give an idea of its character.”
Genome sequencing of the patients is being carried out regularly in Chittagong General Hospital and Agrabad Maternal and Child Hospital under the genomic surveillance Project.
Pain in the throat and hoarseness have been reported in 90 per cent of patients affected with the Omicron variant.
Also, 85 per cent of patients had headaches and pain in different parts of the body and 80 per cent of them got a fever, said the doctors.
However, this variant has not yet been identified in children and adolescents.
The researchers at The Center for Disease Control in the United States reportedly said that the new strain is not much dangerous but there are several new mutations in the spike protein that could make it difficult to detect.
Dr Hamidullah Mehedi, Medicine Consultant of Chittagong General Hospital and Dr Adnan Mannan, Associate Professor of Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the University of Chittagong, led the genome sequencing project, directed by the scientists of icddr,b Virology Department.