Should We Be Afraid of COVID-19 in 2024?

28 octombrie 2025

2 min de lectură

Deschide ghid Deschide colecția Deschide seria

The cold season activates viruses, including COVID-19. Since the end of August, the number of COVID-19 cases has started to grow in the world, and a new strain "pirola" has appeared in a number of countries. Should we be afraid of it?

Concluzii cheie

The cold season activates viruses, including COVID-19.
A new old "friend"
Symptoms

Pentru cine este

Persoane care explorează Coronavirus prin intermediul coronavirus, covid-19 test.

De ce contează

Acest articol te ajută să te orientezi rapid, apoi să treci la o colecție sau serie dacă vrei să continui.

Autorul articolului

Dr. Natalie

Occupational Pathologist

A new old "friend"

"Pirola" is the unofficial name of the strain of COVID-19 BA.2.86. It's a subspecies of "omicron." The first cases of infection with the new strain were detected in August in France. Now there are sick people in more than 10 countries including the UK, USA, Denmark, Israel, Switzerland and others.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "pirola" has more than 30 mutations, which is quite a lot, so it manages to bypass antibodies obtained after vaccination or infection with other strains. Thus, "pirola" is more contagious than "omicron", which means that we should expect a large number of people getting sick. However, experts do not expect a large-scale outbreak or severe consequences.

Symptoms

There is no evidence that this virus subspecies causes a more severe course of illness than its predecessors. The symptoms caused by "pirola" resemble those of a common acute respiratory infection:

Temperature of about 100 degrees F
Shortness of breath, throat congestion
Coughing, runny nose, sneezing
Headache, muscle and chest pain, general weakness
Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may occur

Experts at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control assure that the COVID-19 tests and vaccines created under "omicron" will be effective for the new strain as well.

How it is treated

According to the latest recommendations, doctors prescribe symptomatic treatment as well as modern antiviral drugs. The principal changes have affected the prescription of antibiotics: if at the beginning of the pandemic they were prescribed to everyone en masse, today, without a confirmed bacterial infection, they are not necessary, and possibly even dangerous. If the patient has a moderate to severe course of the disease and there is a risk of thrombosis, he or she will be prescribed anticoagulants (drugs that reduce the risk of blood clots) and antiaggregants (drugs that reduce the ability of platelets to stick together).

Stay calm

The last severely tolerated strain of COVID-19 was the “delta” strain. After it, the era of "omicron" began, which was considered highly contagious but no more dangerous than the common cold. In general, chances are high that you will not be able to distinguish COVID-19 symptoms from those of an acute respiratory infection this year. Like most viruses, COVID-19 won't go anywhere, but it will gradually become a seasonal respiratory illness unless a dangerous new strain emerges.

Continuă lectura

Coronavirus#coronavirus

COVID-19 Vaccines: Which One Should You Choose?

Currently, three COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in Russia: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and Covivac. This naturally raises the question: which vaccine should you choose? Let’s take a closer look at the specifics, efficacy, and potential side effects of each vaccine.

Dr. Anastasia2 apr. 2026

Coronavirus#coronavirus

What Vitamins Help With Recovery From COVID-19?

Any viral infection, whether it is ARVI or temperature, changes the human immune system. People who have had COVID-19 claim that after the disease they began to notice a constant loss of strength, decreased performance, lethargy, deterioration of mood, headaches, shortness of breath during exercise, and exacerbation of chronic diseases. What vitamins should be taken to "invigorate" the immune system after COVID-19?

Dr. Diana28 oct. 2025

Coronavirus#coronavirus

What To Expect From the COVID-19 Vaccine

Many people have decided to get vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are one of them, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Dr. Natalie28 oct. 2025

Ornament blog#post-covid

What Do We Know About Omicron?

At the end of November, a new strain of COVID-19 called Omicron appeared in South Africa. On December 1st, the first case in the U.S. was detected in California. How much more dangerous is it than the other strains we know about? And how can we prepare for it?

Alina28 oct. 2025

Instalează Ornament pentru a nu doar citi aceste articole, ci și pentru a-ți urmări sănătatea, a stoca rezultatele analizelor și a accesa alte funcții utile

Instalează Ornament