Economy 28 January 2022, 3:25pm

Omicron is becoming as contagious as measles

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While when the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 spread, one infected person infected two to three others, while in the case of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) the virus is transmitted to 15-18 people. We are slowly reaching the infectivity of the measles virus, Ágnes Galgóczi, head of the National Public Health Centre, told commercial broadcaster RTL Klub on Friday.

In early 2020, one person infected with the original Wuhan strain infected two to three others; this number is 15 to 18 for the Omicron variant,

, said Dr. Ágnes Galgóczi, head of department at the National Public Health Centre.

In terms of infectivity, we are slowly reaching the level of measles, which is the reason for the high number of infections, but this is not only a Hungarian trend, it is an international trend. The coronavirus is spreading everywhere at this speed, but in return it seems to cause a much milder upper respiratory tract infection.

Galgóczi thinks that with a high probability everyone will contract Omicron in one way or another.

Whether his infection will actually be diagnosed, or whether they will have an asymptomatic infection, we cannot predict.

If the next variant emerges, we will be susceptible to it, there may be more and more outbreaks, but the extent of them, or how we will be able to live with them, may vary.

Those with mild symptoms who have the infection at home can use symptomatic medicines - such as antipyretics and vitamins - to relieve their symptoms. If the symptoms get worse, they may need to be hospitalised for a few days.

With Omicron, the length of hospital stays has significantly shortened,

she added.

So in some ways the workload on the health system will be reduced, but in other ways it may increase slightly, because if more people get sick, more people may end up in hospital, said Galgóczi. The data show that there are far fewer people in hospital now, far fewer people needing ventilation than in the previous waves, and there are also fewer deaths.

Third (or booster) doses have been available since August and they are needed because immunity wanes after the basic immunisation (two shots). Galgóczi stressed it is still not too late to get vaccinated, even for those who have not received a single jab (about 3.4 million people out of the 9.7 million!)