Omicron infection; no loss of taste or sense of smell

Spain is the most recent country where the presence of the omicron variant of the Sars Cov-2 virus is confirmed.

The information was offered by the microbiology service of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid after a traveler from South Africa received an antigenic test at the Barajas airport.

The 51-year-old man is isolated and presents very mild symptoms, one of the main characteristics of this variant.

According to Dr. Angelique Coetzee, president of the South African Medical Association, patients infected with omicron have presented, so far, extreme fatigue as the primary symptom, accompanied by a slight headache, itchy throat, and unlike For the other COVID variants, severe coughing and distinctive lack of taste and smell are not documented.

In addition to restricting the arrival of flights from South Africa, some countries, such as England, made mandatory, again, the use of masks in shops and public transport, as part of the measures to combat the spread of the omicron variant after the social restrictions had been eliminated last July.

Likewise, President Joe Biden asked to resume masks in closed spaces to stop any spread and urged Americans to be vaccinated with a full schedule, including booster doses. He considered that the omicron variant is cause for concern, but “it is not a cause to panic” and ruled out that he is considering implementing generalized confinement measures in the United States.

As of November 28, in the Dominican Republic, 13,780,512 doses of vaccines have been applied, divided into 6,866,632 in the first dose, 5,583,974 in the second dose, and 1,329,906 in booster dose.

This new variant could spread faster than other forms of coronavirus.

It has 50 mutations overall and 32 mutations in the spike protein.

This peak protein is responsible for binding to human cells, being the part of the virus to which the vaccines are directed and where the effectiveness of the same is verified.