The Center for Medical Genomics at Ramathibodi Hospital of Mahidol University has suggested that recent mutations of the Omicron coronavirus variant may spell the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the recent Facebook post from the center, findings from top South African Physician Dr Ridhwaan Suliman indicate a sudden rise and fall in the number of COVID-19 patients over a two-month period, with a notably lower rate of fatalities. This was especially true when comparing the data with the first infections stemming from the Wuhan, Beta and Delta strains, which took longer to spread and were much more virulent.
The center’s random analysis of 100 samples from three Omicron sub-variants showed that all of them evolved from the B.1.1 variant and shared more characteristics resembling the original Wuhan strain than previous variants such as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta strains.
The Center for Medical Genomics said the BA.1 sub-variant mutated from the Wuhan strain by 60-70 positions, with BA2 mutating by 70-80 positions and BA.3 by 55-65 positions.
It also pointed out that variants which mutated fewer than 60 positions from the original Wuhan strain – such as the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants – entered a so-called “endgame” phase and were later replaced by the Omicron variant that mutated more heavily at 80-100 positions.
The center therefore surmised that the recent downward mutation trend of the Omicron’s sub-variants may indicate a similar endgame phase. (NNT)
 |
 |
 |
