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Review
. 2022 Feb 11;23(4):1987.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23041987.

Omicron Genetic and Clinical Peculiarities That May Overturn SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Literature Review

Giorgio Tiecco  1 , Samuele Storti  1 , Melania Degli Antoni  1 , Emanuele Focà  1 , Francesco Castelli  1 , Eugenia Quiros-Roldan  1
Affiliations
Review

Omicron Genetic and Clinical Peculiarities That May Overturn SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Literature Review

Giorgio Tiecco et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a great threat to global public health. The original wild-type strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has genetically evolved, and several variants of concern (VOC) have emerged. On 26 November 2021, a new variant named Omicron (B.1.1.529) was designated as the fifth VOC, revealing that SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to go beyond the available therapies. The high number of mutations harboured on the spike protein make Omicron highly transmissible, less responsive to several of the currently used drugs, as well as potentially able to escape immune protection elicited by both vaccines and previous infection. We reviewed the latest publication and the most recent available literature on the Omicron variant, enlightening both reasons for concern and high hopes for new therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: B.1.1.529; COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; variants of concern.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Omicron early divergence in a phylogenetic mutational tree.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic SARS-CoV-2 and its S protein.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison among mutational profiles of the five already known variants of concern (VOCs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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