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World

OMICRON INFECTIONS APPEAR NO LESS SEVERE THAN DELTA; COVID-19 LOWERS SPERM
COUNT, MOTILITY

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World


OMICRON INFECTIONS APPEAR NO LESS SEVERE THAN DELTA; COVID-19 LOWERS SPERM
COUNT, MOTILITY

People queue to be tested for COVID-19 in Times Square, as the Omicron
coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.,
December 20, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

21 Dec 2021 03:59AM (Updated: 21 Dec 2021 05:57AM)
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The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include
research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has
yet to be certified by peer review.

Infections caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus do not appear to be
less severe than infections from Delta, according to early data from the UK.


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Researchers at Imperial College London compared 11,329 people with confirmed or
likely Omicron infections with nearly 200,000 people infected with other
variants. So far, according to a report issued ahead of peer review and updated
on Monday, they see "no evidence of Omicron having lower severity than Delta,
judged by either the proportion of people testing positive who report symptoms,
or by the proportion of cases seeking hospital care after infection."

For vaccines available in the UK, effectiveness against symptomatic Omicron
infection ranged from 0per cent to 20 per cent after two doses, and from 55 per
cent to 80 per cent following a booster dose. The report also estimated that
after taking individual risk factors into account, the odds of reinfection with
Omicron are 5.4 times greater than for reinfection with Delta.

A study of healthcare workers in the pre-Omicron era estimated that a prior
SARS-CoV-2 infection afforded 85 per cent protection against a second infection
over 6 months, the researchers said, while "the protection against reinfection
by Omicron afforded by past infection may be as low as 19 per cent."


SPERM COUNT, MOTILITY MAY BE LOW FOR MONTHS AFTER COVID-19

Sperm quality is impaired for months for some people after recovery from
COVID-19, researchers have found.

The semen itself was not infectious, the researchers found. But among 35 men who
provided samples within a month after recovery from symptomatic infection,
reductions in sperm motility were evident in 60per cent and sperm counts were
reduced in 37 per cent.


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As reported on Monday in Fertility and Sterility, semen samples were obtained
from 120 Belgian men with an average age of 35 years, at an average of 52 days
after their COVID-19 symptoms had resolved. Among 51 men tested between one and
two months after recovery, 37 per cent had reduced sperm motility and 29 per
cent had low sperm counts.

Among 34 men who provided semen samples at least two months after recovery,
sperm motility was impaired in 28 per cent and sperm counts were low in 6 per
cent. The severity of COVID-19 infection was not correlated with sperm
characteristics.

"Couples with a desire for pregnancy should be warned that sperm quality after
COVID-19 infection can be suboptimal," the researchers concluded. "The estimated
recovery time is 3 months, but further follow-up studies are under way to
confirm this and to determine if permanent damage occurred in a minority of
men."


NEUTRALISING MOLECULE COULD BE CHEAPER THAN ANTIBODIES

An experimental molecule that neutralises the coronavirus in the same way
antibodies do would be cheaper and easier to manufacture, researchers said.

The molecule belongs to a class of compounds known as aptamers. Because they are
made from RNA or DNA, aptamers are easier to synthesize than protein-based
antibodies that can only be produced in living cells, said Julian Valero of
Aarhus University in Denmark.


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Like antibodies, the aptamers attach themselves to protein targets - in this
case, the spike protein on the virus surface - by folding into a
three-dimensional conformation. A study published in PNAS shows that in test
tube experiments, the aptamer binds tightly to the coronavirus spike, preventing
it from breaking into human cells. It inhibits earlier variants of the virus,
including Delta, the researchers said. They are planning tests to see whether it
also recognises and binds to Omicron.

Use of the aptamer in patients is still far off, with tests in mice only
recently begun. In terms of use in humans, "we're much closer" to being able to
use the aptamer to help diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infections, said Jorgen Kjemsa, also
of Aarhus University. Experiments comparing the use of the aptamer to antibodies
in widely used rapid COVID-19 tests for infection are underway, he said.


BOOKMARK THIS: OUR COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS
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Source: Reuters/ec

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