Why is Omicron called this name?
Why is Omicron called this name? The Chinese pronunciation of Omicron is Omicron. Derived from the Greek letter omicron, it was first detected in South Africa on November 9, 2021. Why is Omicron called this? Why is Omicron called this name 1
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named the new coronavirus mutant strain discovered in South Africa "Omicron" (the Chinese pronunciation is AO) in Greek letters. Mikron). The name Omicron was decided by the World Health Organization and was not chosen by anyone.
Reason 1: WHO naming
According to the report issued by the WHO on the afternoon of the 26th, the B.1.1.529 variant that appeared in South Africa was characterized as the highest level. The new coronavirus mutant strain was named Omicron.
Reason 2: Based on previous naming
The names of the new coronavirus mutant strains are very novel every time they mutate, so this time the Omicron mutant strain also follows the previous names. Derived from many naming experiences. The new coronavirus mutant viruses are all named after Greek letters, and Omi-cron is named after "Omi-cron" (the 15th Greek letter Ο).
What is the Omicron strain?
The Omicron strain is the latest mutation of the new coronavirus. It is understood that this is the fifth mutation of the new coronavirus since the global outbreak. The first mutation was discovered in the UK in 2020 and named Alpha; the second mutation appeared at the end of 2020 and was named Alpha. Beta; the third mutation appeared in December 2020, was detected in the Brazilian Amazon, and was named Gamma. Delta is a variant that appeared in India in early 2021, and has caused several rounds of local epidemics in my country. But the Omicron strain has a higher viral load and is more contagious than the Delta virus. Why is Omicron called this name 2
The Chinese pronunciation of omicron is Omicron. It was first detected in South Africa on November 9, 2021. On November 26, WHO defined it as the fifth "variant of concern" and named it the Greek letter Omicron (Omicron) mutant.
Omicron is the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It comes from the Greek letter omicron, which is small o. Its etymology is the same as microbe, compared with omega. In fact, we have seen this pinyin in high school, especially science students, in physics class, and they use it every time as a unit of measurement.
In an article titled "How do you pronounce Omicron", author Christine Hauser said that there have been many disagreements about the pronunciation of this Greek letter, which can even be described as "confusion" . Hauser said language experts generally agree that the Greek letter Omicron has no official English pronunciation. In the United States, Omicron is often pronounced "AH-muh-kraan" and to a lesser extent "OH-mee-kraan". The British, such as British Prime Minister Johnson, pronounce it as "OH-my-kraan".
The article also quotes the English pronunciations marked in various dictionaries. For example, Andreas Wiley, professor of comparative linguistics at the University of Oxford, said that Omicron is pronounced like the English phrase "o-MIKE-Ron".
On November 29, 2021, the WHO stated that the overall global risk assessment of the new coronavirus Omicron variant strain is "very high" and may be widespread around the world. spread. On November 30, data released by the Dutch government showed that long before the first case of the Omicron variant was reported in South Africa, the variant had already appeared in Europe.
How strong is the communication power of Omicron?
According to epidemiological and laboratory surveillance data, the number of cases infected with the Omicron variant has increased significantly, and has partially replaced the Delta variant, with the transmissibility increasing by 37.5% compared to the Delta variant. . Why is Omicron called this name 3
Experts: There are three main possible sources of "Omicron"
The Omicron strain has accumulated many mutations, but in No evidence of the accumulation of these mutations can be found in known public databases, so where did the Omicron mutant strain come from? Eddie Holmes, a world-renowned expert on virus evolution, believes that there are three main possible sources of the Omicron strain.
The first possibility is that the strain has been hiding in South Africa for a long time, but has not been discovered before;
The second possibility is that the new coronavirus entered animals somewhere and evolved. , and later humans were infected;
The third possibility is that the early strain evolved in someone with a weak immune system.
How to protect against Omicron
The Omicron mutant strain is essentially a new coronavirus, which is different from the previous transmission patterns of new coronaviruses. Similar, so conventional protection methods are still effective.
Therefore, from a national level, establishing a "dynamic clearing" strategy and extinguishing an epidemic as soon as it is discovered can minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy and life.
For individuals, we need to realize that the new coronavirus can be transmitted through people or through objects, and can be transmitted through the respiratory tract or through contact, which adds to the complexity of epidemic prevention and control. Difficulty.
We must make long-term preparations, take several basic protective measures (wearing masks, washing hands frequently, ventilating more, gathering less, etc.), and then actively vaccinate against the new coronavirus to reduce severe illness and death. Minimize the impact of the epidemic on individuals and society.
In addition, once you have fever and respiratory symptoms, do not take transportation and go to the fever clinic as soon as possible; when conducting an epidemiological investigation on you, you must be realistic and realistic in the past 14 days. Please tell the epidemic prevention personnel truthfully about your travel history, without any concealment. At the same time, we must also take the initiative to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus.