| Literature DB >> 35737809 |
Shuofeng Yuan1, Zi-Wei Ye1, Ronghui Liang1, Kaiming Tang1, Anna Jinxia Zhang1, Gang Lu2,3, Chon Phin Ong4, Dong-Yan Jin4,5, Kwok-Yung Yuen1,3,6,7,8,5, Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan1,3,6,7,8,5, Vincent Kwok Man Poon1,6, Chris Chung-Sing Chan1,6, Bobo Wing-Yee Mok1, Zhenzhi Qin1, Yubin Xie1, Allen Wing-Ho Chu1, Wan-Mui Chan1, Jonathan Daniel Ip1, Haoran Sun7, Jessica Oi-Ling Tsang1,6, Terrence Tsz-Tai Yuen1, Kenn Ka-Heng Chik1,6, Chris Chun-Yiu Chan1, Jian-Piao Cai1, Cuiting Luo1, Lu Lu1,6, Cyril Chik-Yan Yip7, Hin Chu1,6,8, Kelvin Kai-Wang To1,6,7,8,5, Honglin Chen1,6,7,5.
Abstract
The in vivo pathogenicity, transmissibility, and fitness of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant are not well understood. We compared these virological attributes of this new variant of concern (VOC) with those of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant in a Syrian hamster model of COVID-19. Omicron-infected hamsters lost significantly less body weight and exhibited reduced clinical scores, respiratory tract viral burdens, cytokine and chemokine dysregulation, and lung damage than Delta-infected hamsters. Both variants were highly transmissible through contact transmission. In noncontact transmission studies Omicron demonstrated similar or higher transmissibility than Delta. Delta outcompeted Omicron without selection pressure, but this scenario changed once immune selection pressure with neutralizing antibodies-active against Delta but poorly active against Omicron-was introduced. Next-generation vaccines and antivirals effective against this new VOC are therefore urgently needed.Entities:
Mesh：
Year: 2022 PMID： 35737809 DOI： 10.1126/science.abn8939
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Science ISSN： 0036-8075 Impact factor: 63.714