A hypertransmitter infected with its Omicron variant. coronaviruscan secrete 1,000 times more viral RNA than carriers of the alpha and delta variants of the virus, a new US scientific study has shown.

In general, those infected with infectious variants of Alpha, Delta and Omicron release significantly more coronavirus into the environment compared to carriers of other variants (original Wuhan, Beta, Gamma). It was also found that those who contracted the coronavirus after vaccination (even after revaccination) continued to shed the virus in the air, thus being contagious.

The researchers, led by Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, who made an appropriate preliminary publication on medRxiv (there is no regular publication in a scientific journal yet), examined 93 people according to Nature. with coronavirus (various options), vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Participants were asked to speak, scream, cough or sneeze for 30 minutes in front of a device that collected and counted coronavirus particles exiting their bodies. A person with Omicron, labeled a “supertransmitter”, has been found to shed about 1,000 times more viral RNA than the maximum level shed by people infected with Alpha or Delta.

The reason for these differences remains largely a mystery, the researchers said, but it is likely due to biological factors, although behavior may also play a role (for example, the transmitter in question coughed more than others).

The study also confirmed that those infected with the coronavirus secrete less viral RNA than those with the flu. Scientists do not rule out that future variants of the coronavirus will cause people to excrete even more infected particles.

View study HERE