Omicron’s Surprising Anatomy Explains Why It Is Wildly Contagious
The Omicron coronavirus variant is likely the fastest-spreading virus in human history, according to experts. While one person with the measles virus—a standout among infectious microbes—might infect 15 others within 12 days, Omicron jumps from person to person so quickly that a single case can give rise to six cases after four days, 36 cases after eight days and 216 cases after 12 days. By mid-February, Omicron will infect up to 40 percent of the U.S.
It donned a disguise. Scientists are reaching a consensus about what makes Omicron so transmissible, and most evidence points to a single, potent mechanism: among the variants, Omicron has an unparalleled ability to hide from the immune system. In a recent analysis published in the journal Science, McCallum, with his lab head David Veesler and their colleagues, showed a consequence of this dramatic transformation: only one of eight antibody treatments for COVID used in hospitals—which are based on natural antibodies—still bind to RBDs. Other research has shown mutations on RBDs and a second site called the N-terminal domain enable the virus to avoid antibodies gained by vaccination or infection.
Mutations in Omicron have led to slim molecular bridges that hold the subunits together better, according to recent studies, one published in the Journal of Medical Virology and the others released as preprints, or studies that have not yet been formally reviewed by other scientists. “This virus has really protected itself from prematurely triggering,” says Shan-Lu Liu, author of one of the papers and director of the Viruses and Emerging Pathogens program at the Ohio State University.
Scientists speculate that Omicron gains two possible advantages this way. First, many cells do not have TMPRSS2 on their exterior, so if the virus does not need the surface protein, it has a wider buffet of cells to infect.
Scientists examined the responses from Omicron and Delta to small proteins called interferons, which act like highway flares that alert innate immune cells to invaders. Delta was masterful at subduing the interferon response—but Omicron was terrible. It actually activated interferon signaling.
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