The intensive care units in Swiss hospitals are still mainly occupied by patients who have been infected with the delta variant of the coronavirus. But the Omikron variant is spreading rapidly. Every seventh patient is hospitalized with this variant, as reported by the “NZZ am Sonntag”. This is a big problem for doctors, as the infectiologist Dominique Braun from the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) explains in the newspaper.
But that’s not all: “What causes us most stomach ache is that monoclonal antibodies work worse or not at all.” In earlier versions, the ingredients of the Regen-Cov antibody cocktail docked on the surface and neutralized the virus. But they seem powerless against Omikron. This means that the clinics lose one of two funds for high-risk patients.
Drug only helps in patients with Delta infection
According to Braun, it has also been shown in the laboratory that the drug Regen-Cov fails against Omikron. Corresponding studies were presented by several universities in Germany and Great Britain this week. The manufacturers Roche and Regeneron have also admitted that they are less effective.
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Doctors give this drug to patients whose lungs are so badly inflamed that they need oxygen. However, several Swiss hospitals such as the USZ or the Cantonal Hospital Baselland no longer give Omikron patients an infusion with Regen-Cov.
Both hospitals are concerned about this development. “With the antibodies in hospitalized patients, we lost a weapon that had a certain effect before Omikron,” says infectiologist Braun. That is frustrating, because millions of francs have been spent on researching their effects.
The percentage of Omikron patients will increase rapidly
According to the Zurich doctor, it is not yet possible to assess how dangerous the new variant is. At the moment, however, the USZ is hardly transferring patients from the normal to the intensive care unit. Most of the people who are in the intensive care unit ended up there immediately after admission.
In Zurich, however, they are preparing for the fact that the proportion of Omikron patients will increase rapidly in the next few days. Eight out of ten inpatients at the USZ are unvaccinated. A booster vaccination is extremely important to prevent severe disease, says the senior doctor. And: if you get infected with Omikron after the third dose of vaccination, you probably don’t have to go to the hospital. (chs)