“To say that “omicron” is more difficult than “delta” does not work. It’s just more contagious, and many more cases are being reported. Given this, the proportion of young children, including those under 5–6 years old, is increasing. Now children get sick more often,” she said.
Infectious disease doctor Yevgeny Timakov said that the increase in the incidence of COVID-19 began only one and a half to two weeks ago. It is not yet possible to say what exactly “omicron” causes these diseases, he noted.
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“According to the available data, Omicron causes not only damage to the bronchopulmonary system, but also damage to the gastrointestinal tract. There are a lot of obstructive bronchitis in children, and the cough can persist for a month and a half or more. Headaches can be, dizziness, fatigue, lethargy, ”the infectious disease specialist told RBC.
It is still too early to talk about complications after Omicron, Timakov believes. According to him, it is also impossible to assess whether pneumonia has become more or less.
How the coronavirus epidemic is developing in Russia
Dynamics of daily detected new cases of infection and registration of lethal cases
Sources: federal and regional headquarters for combating coronavirus, statements by officials
Data for Russia i
Earlier, infectious disease specialist Andrey Pozdnyakov said “RIA News”that “omicron” is dangerous for young children, as it causes severe bronchitis in them. “This strain multiplies very easily in the bronchi and much worse in the lungs compared to Delta. This suggests that it causes bronchitis, not pneumonia,” he said.
According to Pozdnyakov, this is rather good for adults, bronchitis for them is unpleasant, but not fatal, unlike pneumonia. “With children, especially young children, the situation is the opposite: due to their anatomical and functional age-related features, bronchitis often leads to severe complications,” the infectious disease specialist warned.
The first cases of infection with the omicron strain were detected in Russia on December 6, 2021. Two citizens who returned from South Africa were infected. By January 14, the number of people infected with “omicron” in Russia reached 783 people, said Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.
In a week or two, Rospotrebnadzor expects an outbreak of morbidity associated with the spread of the omicron strain. The number of new cases of COVID-19 per day may exceed 100 thousand, said the head of the department Anna Popova.
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