First suspicions about "Omicron" variant in Bulgaria

First suspicions about "Omicron" variant in Bulgaria are based on preliminary results obtained by PCR test, the head of the National Reference Laboratory, Assoc. Prof. Ivan Ivanov, told BNT on December 8.

4 out of 100 samples at the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD)are suspected to be of the new coronavirus variant.

The samples were loaded late last night in a special sequencer at the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases. Today, information is still scarce. Whether the suspicions about the first cases of Omicron in our country will be justified will become clear on Friday.

They lack real-time APS amplification in the S-gene, which some scientists say may serve as an indication. Ivan Ivanov, Head of the National Reference Laboratory at the NCIPD said.

The samples are from people from two settlements. So far, however, the names have not been released, so as not to cause unnecessary panic. It is unknown at this time whether those people have traveled abroad.

"If we detect it here, we can really expect in a few weeks to a month and a half there will be prevalence of Omicron rather than Delta variant," said Assoc. Prof. Ivan Ivanov.

"We could say that this conglomeration of mutations that determine Omicron shows an adaptation of the virus that we have been waiting for a long time, so as to reduce the frequency of deaths we have seen from previous variants," he added.

There will be more in-depth epidemiological studies by experts from the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases when the presence of Omicron in Bulgaria is proven. The strain was recently discovered in neighbouring Greece, and shortly before that in Romania, so according to experts, it is only a matter of time before it is detected in Bulgaria.