Ochsner experts await more data on omicron variant

The COVID-19 variant called omicron has already rattled financial markets and led to travel restrictions in Asia, Europe as well as the United States.

But reliable advice for individuals and local officials with public health responsibilities will have to wait for another couple of weeks, a panel of Ochsner Health System experts said in a Zoom meeting Tuesday.

Ochsner operates Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City, one of the system's 40 facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi.

In the meantime, the best advice is familiar advice: Get vaccinated, including a booster if you're 18 or over; wear masks if you feel you're at risk for infection; wash hands frequently; and get tested and stay home if you develop COVID symptoms.

"Hopefully the story will unfold over the next week or two," said Dr. Sandy Kemmerly, Ochsner's director of hospital quality.

The speed with which omicron emerged as Americans celebrated Thanksgiving was a shock at a time when the wave of infections caused by the earlier delta variant had subsided. About 1,100 COVID-positive people were being treated in Ochsner hospitals at the peak of the delta wave, but that number has now plateaued between 40 and 50, said Dr. Katherine Baumgarten, Ochsner's director of infection control and prevention.

Omicron appeared first in South Africa, and then in a traveler to Israel from South Africa, and then in Europe. Two cases have been confirmed in Ontario, but none have been confirmed so far in the United States.

The World Health Organization has already named omicron a "variant of concern," and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened its recommendation that vaccinated people 18 and over get booster shots.

One reason is that the omicron variant appears capable of generating more mutations in the "spike" proteins that give coronaviruses their name, said Amy Feehan, Ochsner's clinical research director.

How that translates into impacts on individual health remains unclear.

The experts said the number of infections is up in South Africa. But the vaccination rate is low in that country, about 30%, and researchers are awaiting data about infection rates among older people or those with compromised immune systems, who are known to be more vulnerable to COVID-19.

The greater potential for mutations raises concern about the effectiveness of existing vaccines against omicron. Research there is also incomplete for now, but preliminary data from Israel indicate that the Pfizer vaccine is effective in preventing serious illness among people infected by omicron, Kemmerly said.

Feehan said genetic sequences from viral samples collected throughout the pandemic have been uploaded into a huge database.

"We'll have a lot of clarity when things pop up," Feehan said. And there is no indication in the database that omicron has appeared here.

St. Mary oilfield workers may be concerned about the overseas travel their work sometimes requires. Feehan said a fellow research worker is in contact with energy companies, some of which have their own industrial hygienists to test and monitor employees and even sequence viral samples.

Aside from the health of their employees, the companies also hope to avoid the expense of taking infected workers off energy platforms.

"They're pretty careful about their employees as far as I can tell," Feehan said.

Baumgarten said testing is important for those who have returned from outside the country.

"This virus is not done with us even if we're done with the virus," Kemmerly said.

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