{"id":80224,"date":"2021-12-10T16:14:17","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T16:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=80224"},"modified":"2023-07-02T10:35:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T10:35:58","slug":"why-omicron-b-1-1-529-variant-is-a-worry-by-dr-harold-gunatillake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/why-omicron-b-1-1-529-variant-is-a-worry-by-dr-harold-gunatillake\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is a worry? by Dr Harold Gunatillake"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600; font-size: 24px;\">Why Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is a worry? <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff6600; font-size: 24px;\">by Dr Harold Gunatillake<\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Becoming dominant COVID-19 variant <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">worldwide<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-48674\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Harold-Gunethilake.jpg\" alt=\"Harold Gunatillake\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" \/><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R9LuF-8kvk8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Transcript:<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">History<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u2022 Known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus has resulted in more than 265 million infection <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">and more than 5.2 million deaths.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u2022 The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently monitoring five variants of <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">concern: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The variant detected by scientists recently in Gauteng, South Africa, a new mutant of SARS- <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">CoV-2, labelled Omicron B.1.1.529, is a concern, because of the unprecedented large number <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">of mutations or copies of the variant genome, that is spreading faster than the previous <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">variants and infecting humen cells.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">SARS is the term defined as severe acute respiratory syndrome or (SARS)-CoV-2.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">We must live with Covid and the Omicron scare, and why?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This is supposed to be a cluster outbreak and a real resurgence and starting of a 4th wave. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The fear is also there that these mutant variations can evade some of the immune protection <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">afforded by vaccines, based on the original spike proteins like Pfizer and Moderna mRNA <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">vaccines.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">On November 16, 2021, there were 136 daily recorded cases of COVID-19 infections from <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">this variant in South Africa and by 25th of same month the numbers had increased to 1,200. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This variant is now spread to Hongkong, Europe, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the United States <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">and Australia.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Let us discuss the basics of the spike protein that is causing havoc within our body cells, <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">resulting in multiple copies through a process of mutation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">A particular part of the spike called receptor-binding domain (RBD) binds to a receptor called <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">ACE2in the membrane of human cells. The spike receptor-binding domain is composed of a <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">glycoprotein to enter cells in our body. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">So, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells is mediated by its spike glycoprotein <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">or S-glycoprotein and the cellular receptor in the body is recognized as the angiotensin- <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">converting enzyme 2 or ACE2<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">As you are aware it is the spike glycoproteins- a slippery sugar molecule, which plays an <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">important role in virus attachments and entry into a human cell and interlocks with the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">receptors in the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory tissue. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">On the surface of our cells is a protein called Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 receptor <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">(ACE2), triggers the uptake of the virus particles that enters the cells. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">SARS-CoV-2 uses ACE2 to enter target cells <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">In mutations in the variants there is a change in the structure of this spike protein. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The new variants carry several peculiar changes to the spike protein, and in mutating alters <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">the biochemistry of the spike and could affect how transmissible the virus is. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">You can see these flowers waving with all kinds of bending angles, a long, slender stalk with <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">so much flexibility.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Flexibility of the spike is important to the virus\u2019s success of getting into our bodies. By <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">sweeping around, the spike increases its odds of encountering the protein on the surface of <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">our cells it uses to attach. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">One of the most concerning features of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is how it moves or <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">changes over time during the evolution of the virus. Encoded within the viral genome, the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">protein can mutate and changes its biochemical properties as the virus evolves. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Most mutations will not be beneficial and either stop the spike protein from working or have <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">no effect on its function. But some may cause changes that give the new version of the virus a <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">selective advantage by making it more transmissible or infectious. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The spike protein is also the basis of current COVID-19 vaccines, which seek to generate an <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">immune response against it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">For SARS-CoV-2, the vaccines produced by Pfizer\/BioNTech and Moderna give instructions <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">to our immune system to make our own version of the spike protein, which happens shortly <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">following immunization. Production of the spike inside our cells then starts the process of <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">protective antibody and T cell production. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Now let us talk about the antibodies that are formed to attack the spike proteins formed in our <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">body from the spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The antibodies are called immunoglobulin G or IgG antibodies. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">These antibodies are formed in our body after 7-14 days after the infection and remain in the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">blood for months or years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">When a person gets infected with the Coronavirus infection, the body produces distinct IgG <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">antibodies, whether they have symptoms or not. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The IgG antibodies formed in our body from the vaccine targets the receptor domain of the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">spike protein and is the key to the immune response in our body.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Coronavirus in our body cells starts mutating, that is more viruses are formed as copies of the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">RNA. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">mRNA Vaccines hopefully according to the researchers will destroy the mutated variants too <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">through the IgG antibodies. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">..According to a Moderna press release, their COVID-19 vaccine is still effective against the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">variants, SARS-CoV-2 &#8211; B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which scientists first identified in the United <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Kingdom and South Africa, respectively. However, the vaccine had a significantly reduced <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">antibody response to the variants.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Dr Richard Lessells Ph.D an infectious disease specialist based at the Africa Centre for <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Health and Population Studies, told the news briefing that Omicron\u2019s genome has several <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">mutations associated with resistance to neutralizing antibodies.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The current variant belongs to Pango lineage B.1.1.529, with a high number of S-gene <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">mutations compared to delta and other previous variants, detected at the beginning of <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">November 2021.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">On 26 November 2021 the variant was designated a variant of concern (VOC) and assigned <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">the label Omicron by the World Health Organization (WHO). <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This variant is characterized by 30 changes, three deletions and one small insertion in the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">spike protein, of these 15 are in the receptor binding domain. This variant was first detected <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">in samples collected on 11 November 2021 in Botswana and on 14 November 2021 in South <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Africa.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">As of 26 November 2021, travel-related cases have also been detected in Belgium, Hong <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Kong, and Israel. The Omicron variant is the most divergent variant that has been detected in <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">significant numbers during the pandemic so far, which raises concerns that it may be <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">associated with increased transmissibility, significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness and <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">increased risk for reinfections. As of 26 November 2021, ECDC has classified this variant as <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">a variant of concern (VOC) due to concerns regarding immune escape and potentially <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">increased transmissibility compared to the Delta variant.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This variant has spread into the EU\/EEA countries and the spread is considered to be high.. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The EEA includes EUropean countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The concern today is that the changes in the rapid mutations in this present variant may <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">prevent antibodies that are in the body from previous vaccinations, neutralizing these variants <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">in the body.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Dr. Richard Lessells, Ph.D., an infectious disease specialist based at the Africa Centre for <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Health and Population Studies told the news briefing that Omicron\u2019s genome has several <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">mutations associated with resistance to neutralizing antibodies. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">These include not only antibodies generated through vaccination or natural infection but also <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Dr. Lessells said that the Omicron genome also has a cluster of mutations associated with <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">more efficient entry into host cells and enhanced transmissibility. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">In addition, it has a mutation associated with resistance to the body\u2019s first line of defense <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">against newly encountered pathogens, known as the innate immune system. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">These are matters of concern that this variant may have not just enhanced transmissibility to <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">spread more efficiently, but also be able to get round our immune system that protects us. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">It is observed that omicron is more virulent, but yet causing more mild symptoms that need <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">no hospitalization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Dr. Daniel Griffin, Ph.D., a virologist at Columbia University in New York City, told <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Medical News Today that the number of changes in the Omicron variant is very high <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">compared with previous variants of SARS-CoV-2. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He speculates that the new variant may have evolved in an unvaccinated individual with a <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">compromised immune system. This would have given the virus an unusually long time to <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">develop adaptations to the human immune system. <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Will this variant cause more issues than the previous variants, we have to wait and see, but <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">hopefully does not seem to be so far?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Hope this video presentation was useful.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Stay safe and goodbye for now.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Disclaimer:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and whilst the author will endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, eLanka makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the eLanka website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this article for any purpose. 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The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is a worry? \u00a0by Dr Harold Gunatillake Becoming dominant COVID-19 variant worldwide Transcript: History The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. \u2022 Known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus has resulted in more than 265 million infection and more than 5.2 million deaths. \u2022 The World Health Organization (WHO) is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1103],"tags":[40104,872,40106,40105,40102,40103,40107],"class_list":{"0":"post-80224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-dr-harold-gunatillake","9":"tag-dr-daniel-griffin","10":"tag-dr-harold-gunatillake","11":"tag-dr-lessells","12":"tag-dr-richard-lessells","13":"tag-omicron","14":"tag-omicron-b-1-1-529","15":"tag-variant-of-concern","16":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is a worry? 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