Omicron symptoms: Why they may be milder than other variants

Several recent pre-print studies examining the effects of COVID-19 on mice and hamsters have found that the Omicron variant leads to a lower viral load in the lungs and less damage to the tissues compared to previous variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Several recent studies that looked at the effect of the virus on mice and hamsters have found that the Omicron variant leads to a lower viral load in the lungs and less damage to the tissues compared to previous variants of SARS-CoV-2.

All of these rodent studies are pre-prints, which means they have yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal.

One study from Belgian researchers published online on Boxing Day looked at how Omicron infected Syrian hamsters. The researchers found that the hamsters with Omicron had a 99.9 per cent lower viral load in the lungs compared to hamsters infected with older strains of the virus.

Syrian hamsters have been considered an important tool for COVID-19 research, as these animals are known to be highly susceptible to getting seriously ill from the virus.