In the article, the researchers investigated the mucosal susceptibility and immune response to Omicron as compared to Delta and earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs). They found that the replication of the Omicron variant in lung tissues is highly restricted when compared to other VOC, whereas it remained relatively unchanged in nasal tissues. Omicron also induced a much stronger immune response compared to earlier VOCs. Their data provides new insights into the reduced lung involvement and clinical severity of Omicron.
Fig 1: SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta replication kinetics in human nasal and lung tissues
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