Treat Omicron like winter flu? What experts say about latest proposal to live with Covid-19 strain

Eilish O'Regan

A jogger passes a mural in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, of a nurse in PPE signing a heart symbol with their hands. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

January 29 2022 02:30 AM

One of the opinions gaining ground as Ireland reached a turning point last week in managing Covid-19 was that we had entered a stage where it could be treated like the flu.

Even during a bad flu season here, there were no pub restrictions or physical distancing and except for in hospitals, there were no face masks to be seen.

We now know there have been hundreds of thousands of people getting the less-severe Omicron strain but it has not led to a high rate of hospitalisation and serious illness as a result of our high levels of immunity through vaccination and infection.

However, the notion put forward in the UK this week that it intended to treat the two viruses – Covid and flu – the same drew a backlash from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which said Covid-19 is still “very nasty” and “full of surprises”.

New Omicron sub-variant BA.2 can spread more rapidly than original – UKHSA

Unvaccinated people and vulnerable groups remain at the highest risk. So what do Irish experts believe about the comparison?

Professor Gerald Barry, assistant professor of virology in UCD, said while both viruses are infectious and can cause death, there are big differences between them.

He pointed out winter flu has been around long enough for us to have a reasonable idea of what to expect.

Vaccines are manufactured based on strains circulating in the southern hemisphere during our winter.

“It can throw something unusual at us but to a large extent we have reached an equilibrium with it and we can see what is coming down the tracks,” he said of flu.

“Compare that to Covid-19 which has been with us for only two years. There is so much we do not know about the virus. Nobody would make any confident prediction of what it is going to do next.”

Flu usually disappears in late spring but Covid-19 can thrive during the summer and create a big surge.

“Flu does not spread as aggressively in the population as Covid-19. There were relatively strict restrictions in place in December – and early January but it managed to infect around 500,000 in a week,” he added.

Even if Omicron is not supplanted by a new, stronger variant, it will still be at risk of posing major problems next winter with waning immunity.

Although the main focus has been on its impact on hospitals, he said it has a huge disruptive effect in terms of workplace absences, as well as long-Covid and parents having to stay at home to look after an ill child.

It is also capable of damaging a range of organs.

Dr Jack Lambert, professor in medicine and infectious disease in UCD, said more people have been admitted to hospital with the Omicron variant than patients with flu during a bad season. “Covid-19 attacks the gut and the brain. Patients with Covid-19 can come in with symptoms such as confusion, dizziness, bad headaches,” he added.

Before the pandemic an average of 500 flu-related deaths were reported here during winter. This year should see new vaccines target Omicron as well as more treatments to prevent the virus causing serious complications. However, David Nabarro, the Who’s special envoy, said Covid-19 still has a “long, long way” to go and is “still very serious”.

He said “it’s as though we’re just passing the halfway mark on a marathon” and it is still not clear how long it will take to reach the end because of the way coronavirus “challenges and surprises”.