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30-11-2021|Coronavirus

Omicron, the newest coronavirus variant: How to pronounce it, how it got its Greek name, and what it means.

In recent days, public health officials have raised concerns about a new coronavirus variant that could cause a global outbreak of COVID-19 cases with "severe consequences," according to the World Health Organization.

The omicron variant, named after the Greek letter, is the 13th SARS-CoV-2 viral variant to be assigned a Greek nomenclature under the World Health Organization's classification scheme for variants of interest or concern.

The variant, with other named variants, has "several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes," according to WHO's Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution.

Several others, such as delta, which caused a spike in cases in the United States over the summer, are still listed as variants of concern or interest and have Greek letter names, while others have dropped off and are now labelled "variants under monitoring" or "formerly monitored variants."

How omicron variant got its name?

When variants initially became a public concern, many individuals referred to them by the name of the country where they were discovered, for example, the "U.K. variant." But, according to Dr. Waleed Javaid, a professor of infectious diseases and medicine and director of infection control at Mount Sinai hospitals in New York, that's "not the appropriate way of thinking about it."

"The infection will spread as it always does. It is contagious and spreads to others. It's also not based on a specific region. It is predicated on the fact that it is infectious."

In May, WHO announced that it would implement a new nomenclature system for variants to avoid misunderstanding and stigma in countries where they are first identified.

Omicron's scientific name in the Pango system is B.1.1.529, which transmits scientific information about its pedigree from the Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak group.

The use of the Greek alphabet is intended to make it easier and more practical for nonscientific communities to debate the variants, according to the WHO. When speaking with patients or staff members who are not skilled in comprehending the technical aspects of the variants' differences, Javaid has found that employing Greek letters is helpful.

When variants are referred to by their country names, it can lead to unfair stigmas, especially if the variants did not originate in that country and were only discovered there recently.

On November 24, South Africa reported the first case of the omicron variant to WHO. It was first discovered in samples taken on Nov. 9, but the variant was also found in samples taken on Nov. 11 in Botswana. As a result, WHO identifies "many nations" " for its earliest documented samples as a result.

How to pronounce omicron?

Omicron can be pronounced ä-m-krän or -m-()krän, according to Merriam-Webster.

How many different coronavirus strains are there?

Despite the fact that dozens of variants appear and circulate every day around the world, barely a dozen have risen to the level of concern or curiosity prior to omicron. However, according to Javaid, knowing the total number of all variants is difficult.

A "variant of concern" must be linked to a "increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, or increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation, or decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, or therapeutics," according to the World Health Organization.

"Genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape and identified to cause significant community transmission or multiple COVID-19 clusters, in multiple countries with increasing relative prevalence alongside increasing number of cases over time, or other apparent epidemiological impacts to suggest an emerging ri

Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and omicron are currently the five identified variations of concern. Lambda and mu are the two variants of interest.

Three former variants of interest, kappa, iota, and eta, are now classed as variants under monitoring, whereas epsilon, zeta, and theta are now formerly monitored variants.

"Variants under monitoring" have "genetic changes suspected to affect virus characteristics with some indication that it may pose a future risk, but evidence of phenotypic or epidemiological impact is currently unclear, requiring enhanced monitoring and repeat assessment pending new evidence," according to the World Health Organization.

"Formerly monitored variants" meet one of the following requirements, WHO says: "(1) the variant is no longer circulating at levels of global public health significance, (2) the variant has been circulating for a long time without having any impact on the overall epidemiological situation, or (3) scientific evidence demonstrates that the variant is not associated with any concerning properties."

What does the Greek word omicron mean?

The Greek letter Omicron is the 15th letter in the alphabet. The capital "" and lowercase "o" symbols are used.

Its literal Greek translation, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is "small o."

What happened to the nu and xi variants?

WHO stated it skipped over "nu" to avoid misunderstanding and "xi" because of its widespread use.

"'Nu' was not used because it is a common last name,' and 'Xi' was not used because it is too readily confused with 'new,'" WHO noted in a statement. It recommends avoiding offending "cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups" while naming diseases.

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