How to translate the knowledge of COVID‐19 into prevention of Omicron variants

Abstract

Omicron variants are part of the “COVID‐19 variants of concerns” and have the potential to spread around the world rapidly and can harm human life. We can anticipate that the endemic state of COVID‐19 will be characterized by development of new strains with surges that will predominate in unvaccinated and immunodeficient populations. Thus, there will be an important role for promoting vaccinations, boosters and accessible testing to prevent disease transmission and to rapidly detect surges. There is an urgent need to explore the virology and biology of Omicron variants, define clinical phenomes and therapies, monitor dynamics of genetic changes and translate the knowledge of COVID‐19 into new variants. Clinical and translational medicine will be impactful in addressing these challenges by providing new insights for understanding and predicting new variants‐associated transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic, or therapeutic failure.

The Burden of COVID-19 in Children and Its Prevention by Vaccination: A Joint Statement of the Israeli Pediatric Association and the Israeli Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases

“…As of December 2021, most countries do not give boosters to children and adolescents. However, as the booster is considered to provide optimal protection against Omicron [108,109], a third dose, administered extensively in this population and even at a relatively short time following the second dose, may be deemed appropriate. Nevertheless, the rapid administration of full vaccination programs across all age groups, including children and adolescents, is critical to protect against emerging variants in the future.…”

Current trends in COVID-19 diagnosis and its new variants in physiological fluids: Surface antigens, antibodies, nucleic acids, and RNA sequencing

“…False-negative results can occur in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in both nucleic acid- and antigen-based tests. This may be the case if the mutations occur in the genomic region that the molecular assays are designed to detect, and such changes in the viral genome may translate into amino acid changes in the viral proteins or antigens and consequently affect the performance of the antigen tested [ 53 ].…”

The Burden of Omicron Variant in Pakistan: An Updated Review

“…For the broader understanding and strategy development of the control and prevention of Omicron, its biological aspects, virology, therapies, clinical phenomena, and dynamics of alternations in the genome should be studied and researched thoroughly. Translational medication, along with clinical assistance, can prove to be quite helpful for a better understanding of disease severity, therapeutic and diagnostic failure, immune escape, or diversity of the infection that helps in the prevention of disease [49].…”