Omicron COVID-19 - A Variant of Concern for the Health Care workers
Keywords:
COVID-19, Pandemic, Vaccination, Molnupiravir, Omicron
Abstract
The third wave of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant has started in India. Being highly infective, there is an exponential increase in the number of daily cases. At this time, urgent steps are needed to minimise community transmission and thereby,
protect healthcare workers (HCW) from being infected, which could result in disastrous consequences for the ultimate management of seriously ill patients. Apart from observing Covid appropriate behaviour, we have measures such as vaccines,
targeted antivirals and monoclonal antibodies to prevent serious disease, whose efficacy need to be established. Systematic planning, adequate stock of oxygen, essential drugs like steroids and blood thinners will go a long way in tiding over this
third wave too.
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3. Pandemic Response Task Force [internet]. Covid 19: Workers need respirators. Available from: https://www.acgih.org/covid-
19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/
4. NDTV Coronavirus [Internet]. WHO Warns Against “Blanket” Omicron Travel Bans As Nations Shut Borders [cited 2021 Dec 1]. Available from:https://www.ndtv.com/ world-news/coronavirus-who-warns-against-blanket-omicron- travel-bans-as-nations-shut-borders-2631480
5. Jayk Bernal A, Gomes da Silva MM, Musungaie DB, et al. Molnupiravir for oral treatment of Covid-19 in nonhospitalized patients. N Engl J Med. 2021 Dec. doi: 10.1056/ NEJMoa2116044.
6. Economic Times [Internet]. Covid antiviral drug Molnupiravir has ‘major safety concerns’, says ICMR [ cited 2022 Jan 6]. Available from:https://economictimes.indiatimes. com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/ covid-antiviral-drug-molnupiravir-has-major-safety-concerns- icmr/articleshow/88715891.cms?from=mdr
7. Mahase E. Covid-19: Pfizer’s paxlovid is 89% effective in patients at risk of serious illness, company reports BMJ. 2021;375:n2713. doi:10.1136/bmj.n2713
8. European Pharmaceutical Review [Internet] Ronapreve™ reduces COVID-19 viral load within seven days [cited 2021
Sept 30]. Available from:https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview. com/news/163468/ronapreve-reduces-covid- 19-viral-load-within-seven-days/
9. Roche. Ronapreve does not retain neutralising activity against the Omicron variant [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 Dec 17]. Available from: https://www.roche.com/ dam/jcr:dfe6dcb4-d787-45d6-9b1dffc17d667e4c/2021216_ Roche%20statement%20on%20Ronapreve%20Omicron.pdf
10. The Hindu [Internet]. ICMR approves India-made kit to detect Omicron [cited 2022 Jan 4]. Available from:https://www. thehindu.com/news/national/icmr-approves-india-madekit- to-detect-omicron/article38112784.ece
11. Kandeel M, Mohamed MEM, Abd El-Lateef HM, Venugopala KN, El-Beltagi HS. Omicron variant genome evolution and phylogenetics. J Med Virol. 2021 Dec 10. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27515. Epub ahead of print.
12. India.com [Internet]. Ensure No Gap in Oxygen Supply: With Omicron Cases Rising, States, UTs Asked to Stay Prepared
to Deal with Emergency [cited 2021 Dec 16]. Available from:https://www.india.com/news/india/ensure-no-gap-inoxygen- supply-with-omicron-cases-rising-states-uts-askedto- stay-prepared-to-deal-with-emergency-5141607/
13. Bhattacharya K, Bhattacharya N. Pandemic profiteering during the second wave of Covid-19. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics(2021) online. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20529/ IJME.2021.087,
14. Deccan Herald [Internet]. Omicron led surge will be ‘very fast’ warns WHO expert [cited 2022 Jan 1]. Available from: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/omicron-ledsurge- will-be-very-fast-warns-who-expert-1066789.html
15. COVIDSurg Collaborative. Projecting COVID-19 disruption to elective surgery. Lancet. 2021 Dec 16;S0140-6736(21)02836- 1. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02836-1. Epub ahead of print.
16. First Post [Internet]. How to combat pandemic fatigue in 2022? Stop doomscrolling, seek help and maintain hope.
[cited 2022 Jan 3]. Available from :https://www.firstpost. com/health/how-to-combat-pandemic-fatigue-in-2022 stopdoomscrolling- seek-help-and-maintain-hope-10253111.html
17. Washington Post. [Internet]. First they ran short of PPE, then ventilators. Now, the shortage is hospital staff.[cited 2021
Dec 30]. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ health/2021/12/30/hospitals-staffing-shortages-omicron/
Published
2022-01-31
How to Cite
Kaushik Bhattacharya, Neela Bhattacharya. (2022). Omicron COVID-19 - A Variant of Concern for the Health Care workers. The Indian Practitioner, 75(1), 7-10. Retrieved from https://articles.theindianpractitioner.com/index.php/tip/article/view/1297
Section
Editorial
