BANGKOK, Dec 24 (TNA) – The Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads faster than the Delta variant because it stays in the upper respiratory tract and does not attack lungs, according to the Department of Medical Sciences.

 

Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the department, said the Omicron variant mostly stayed in the upper respiratory tract and thus spread 70 times faster than the Delta variant. However, the Omicron variant did not harm lungs like the Delta variant.

 

Of Delta cases, as many as 50% were admitted to hospitals while the rate among Omicron cases was 20-25%, he said. At present, Omicron cases form 16% of COVID-19 cases.

 

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Full story: https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-849139

 

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3 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

Ditto.   Just shows how far behind the news Thailand is.

 

This is not the first time that Thai doctors or "experts" have come out with COVID-19 statements which were first reported in Western or other Asian news sources weeks before hand.

And will continue to keep happening as I suspect they have no original thoughts of their own.

2 minutes ago, tlcwaterfall said:

And will continue to keep happening as I suspect they have no original thoughts of their own.

Pretty original thought of yours too! ????

What counts is not if you can catch it but how dangerous is it. corona virus is responsible for a percentage of the common cold and we do not panic over that. We don't panic over yearly influenza, which by the way is not a big problem in tropical countries only in temperate ones. so tell us is this variant more deadly, less deadly and which group does it target?

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the department, said the Omicron variant mostly stayed in the upper respiratory tract and thus spread 70 times faster than the Delta variant. However, the Omicron variant did not harm lungs like the Delta variant

Another web-surfer comes into the light.

So can we mention the F word now without being stoned to death bu didgy statistics?

 

It really is like the flu.

24 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

So can we mention the F word now without being stoned to death bu didgy statistics?

 

It really is like the flu.

The previous versions of covid-19 were certainly not like the flu, they were lower respiratory tract infections. The omicrom is looking good though, it's most likely an upper respiratory tract infection. Big difference there. 

55 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

So can we mention the F word now without being stoned to death bu didgy statistics?

 

It really is like the flu.

You can say it when it's true.  If people are coughing up blood and dying in the ICU you can't say "It's the common cold" without people wishing death upon you.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the department, said the Omicron variant mostly stayed in the upper respiratory tract and thus spread 70 times faster than the Delta variant. However, the Omicron variant did not harm lungs like the Delta variant.

That and numbers showing that that what we called the flu actually has more leathality then this variant which also runs off after 3-5 days which is way faster then the flu, so locking everything down is questionable from alot of doctors, but hey , can have as many opinions as there are people and it wont change a thing with those incharge there.

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

So can we mention the F word now without being stoned to death bu didgy statistics?

 

It really is like the flu.

Where did the flu go, it seems to have disappeared.

This one is a glorified chest cold and even though it's a covid variant. Looking like this Covid-19 virus might just be petering out after 2 years.  Wishing everyone a healthy Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years. Stay safe by doing what's needed for you and your family. This does not mean locking yourself away.

Just now, userabcd said:

Where did the flu go, it seems to have disappeared.

Nope it's still around but mask wearing and social distancing has reduced cases.

7 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Where did the flu go, it seems to have disappeared.

Up the chimney...... 

Covid measures are keeping a few other ailments down!

58 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

Who says the ivermectin information was wrong? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Campbell_(YouTuber)

"COVID-19 misinformation"

 

 

48 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Where did the flu go, it seems to have disappeared.

Not many countries test for flu, and the mass media does not report flu numbers. 

 

2 hours ago, Dionigi said:

What counts is not if you can catch it but how dangerous is it. corona virus is responsible for a percentage of the common cold and we do not panic over that. We don't panic over yearly influenza, which by the way is not a big problem in tropical countries only in temperate ones. so tell us is this variant more deadly, less deadly and which group does it target?

How easily and fast you can catch it matters a lot. It matters because the more people who catch it the faster it is likely to mutate and form potentially more deadly forms of the virus. The omicron virus is more than half as deadly as delta which is very significant.

2 hours ago, Daithi85 said:

Who says the ivermectin information was wrong? 

Just panels of experienced virologists that publish their findings in medical journals and not on youtube. 

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

This one is a glorified chest cold and even though it's a covid variant. Looking like this Covid-19 virus might just be petering out after 2 years.  Wishing everyone a healthy Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years. Stay safe by doing what's needed for you and your family. This does not mean locking yourself away.

More like a glorified sniffles as they just stated it doesn't effect the lungs.
Break out the salt-water and your Hashi nasal irrigator  (about 250 THB on Lazada).  Personally I add 1/2 teaspoon of 10% providone-iodine and Bob's your uncle.  What I find amazing is that run-of-the-mill colds are highly infectious but people don't run around like the sky is falling.  And I get the distinct feeling that as of about now, most will not be able to tell a run-of-the-mill cold from Omicrom  unless you take a test.  I wonder how many farang (most) would get the sniffles, take an ATK test which is positive, run to their hospitals, then get incarcerated for 14 day after which they are handed a 100,000+ THB bill for sitting in a bed with the runny nose?  Make me wonder.

It's past time to learn to live with this.  And if you get this mild form - then you'll have memory killer T and B cells that will be effective in combating infection for most of your life well after you antibody titer is gone.

3 hours ago, Dionigi said:

What counts is not if you can catch it but how dangerous is it. corona virus is responsible for a percentage of the common cold and we do not panic over that. We don't panic over yearly influenza, which by the way is not a big problem in tropical countries only in temperate ones. so tell us is this variant more deadly, less deadly and which group does it target?

Covid is something you don't want if you are in the obese category, even if you are young.

 

So that's a group that should be a bit concerned.

 

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/omicron-covid-mortality-rates-obese/

 

 

4 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

Ditto.   Just shows how far behind the news Thailand is.

So is the UK and US, they are still promoting Omicron as if it is a deadly virus, shame on them.

A baiting troll post removed

3 hours ago, MikeyIdea said:

The previous versions of covid-19 were certainly not like the flu, they were lower respiratory tract infections. The omicrom is looking good though, it's most likely an upper respiratory tract infection. Big difference there. 

 

 COVID-19 -- at least the severe form of it - is  in fact a vascular disease. It affects not just the lungs but also blood vessels throughout the body and there is a large autoimmune component to the severe form. Hence the value of steroids.

 

Initial hospital mortality rates were  much higher than they became precisely because it was originally, and wrongly,  assumed this was mainly a viral pneumonia and treated as such. A reasonable assumption at the time, but wrong. We now know much better.

 

Omicron seems to be a new entity in more ways than one and may prove to be virtually a different disease, perhaps even a form of common cold (corona virus variants of which already exist). But it is still early days to make any firm conclusions.

 

1 hour ago, MikeyIdea said:

Just panels of experienced virologists that publish their findings in medical journals and not on youtube. 

But you also  have many experts and many doctors who say ivermectin .

Yes. After it spent many wasted mths in a SA Aids patient Omicron had the bright idea that if it just propogated in the mouth nose and throat it could spread much faster! Damn clever virus! Covid never wanted to kill people as that reduces it's ability to propogate! Omicron takes over the world and becomes everybody's pet virus.

3 hours ago, Jotho said:

That and numbers showing that that what we called the flu actually has more leathality then this variant which also runs off after 3-5 days which is way faster then the flu, so locking everything down is questionable from alot of doctors, but hey , can have as many opinions as there are people and it wont change a thing with those incharge there.

There is a problem in that Delta is still around in some countries including Thailand and US. While there's a shortcut to spotting Omicron with PCR, it depends on having the right brand of test, since they do not all detect the same genetic material. Of course, if it's a breakthrough infection, Omicron should be strongly suspected.

 

If people are not doing well, they need to be hospitalized regardless of which variant is in play, and with many more infections that can mean that hospitals fill up. It may seem innocuous on the individual level, but for the medical community it's a big problem.

1 hour ago, Virt said:

Covid is something you don't want if you are in the obese category, even if you are young.

 

So that's a group that should be a bit concerned.

 

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/omicron-covid-mortality-rates-obese/

 

 

Add to that not being vaccinated.

Next year will be fine. This will be the end of it after probably March or April. Open up! Go back to normal! (with the exception of proof of vaccination and...a test before leaving.)

2 hours ago, Pravda said:

I was coughing up blood with a flu 

That certainly doesn't sound like the common cold.

55 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Omicron seems to be a new entity in more ways than one and may prove to be virtually a different disease, perhaps even a form of common cold (corona virus variants of which already exist). But it is still early days to make any firm conclusions.

 

Actually the "cold" can be due to different viruses. One is in the same genus (Betacoronaviridae) - OC43, but the tree below shows the complexity and distance between this cold virus and SARS viruses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronaviridae

 

This may be helpful in understanding the complexity of the Coronavirus family:

 

Quote

Omicron variant mostly stayed in the upper respiratory tract

How important is to repeatedly wash the hands, never advising about the mouth? Do we breathe through our hands? (Don't shake hands, better to touch with fists?)

When some doctors in Thailand advised to gargle with Listerin, everybody laughed...