Why are omicron cases being identified faster than other variants?

No diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 in the market you can identify the type of variant. The only way to find out is through a genomic sequencing process, which can take days or weeks. However, the new strain omicron it can be detected by a certain type of molecular test or RT-PCR: the TaqPath kit, from Thermo Fisher. This has allowed rapid detection of omicron cases in different parts of the world, compared to other variants. But why does it happen?

First of all, one must understand that to detect a case of SARS-CoV-2 l. These may vary depending on the manufacturer of the tests. For example, the Thermo Fisher diagnostic kit focuses on the analysis of the orf1a / b gene, the S gene, and the N gene.

The thing about omicron is that. That is, it identifies two of the three target genes.

This phenomenon has been called gene failure S and – according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – it can be used as a marker of the variant; in other words, while awaiting confirmation of genome sequencing.

With this approach, the variant [ómicron] it has been detected at a faster rate than previous surges in infection, “says WHO.

Pedro Romero, a molecular biologist at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, believes that the use of the S gene failure may be useful now, when the variant continues to spread to more countries. For instance, . But once the strain has become prevalent or predominant in a country, it would no longer be of much use.

Likewise, Romero clarifies that. This phenomenon, although not very common, has been seen in other variants, such as delta and lambda.

–Safe diagnosis–

According to the National Institute of Health (INS), Peru has not acquired Thermo Fisher TaqPath diagnostic kits. But that does not put us at a disadvantage, since we have several molecular tests for the general detection of SARS-CoV-2. Regarding the fear that there may be about whether molecular tests will stop being useful against omicron and its mutations, Óscar Escalante, molecular biologist and INS researcher, explains that; that is to say, that less changes can present.

For this reason, molecular tests remain effective tools to detect the virus, regardless of the variant.