Omicron variant today Italy, first case in Tuscany

Covid today Italy, the first case of Omicron variant identified in Tuscany. The sequencing was carried out by the Uoc Microbiology and Virology of the Sienese university hospital, directed by Professor Maria Grazia Cusi, on a tourist from Great Britain, on vacation in the Sienese area. The lady, vaccinated and asymptomatic, was admitted to the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital for another pathology. The ASL Toscana Sud Est “immediately started tracing the case of the Omicron variant detected by the laboratories of the Sienese university hospital” on the tourist. At the moment, the husband of the tourist, who was staying in an accommodation facility in Siena, was placed in quarantine. The operators of ASL Toscana southeast are working to reconstruct the movements of the couple, who arrived on 6 December at the Florence airport, with a flight from Birmingham via Amsterdam. Read also “All patients who are hospitalized with access from the ER or who have a scheduled hospitalization undergo the Covid test and, for all, the necessary precautions are used to prevent contagion, both for the other patients present and for professionals at work – explains the medical director of Aou Senese Roberto Gusinu – On positive samples, sequencing is carried out to evaluate the type of variant present, considering that the prevailing one at the moment is the Delta. In this case, our laboratory has undergone found the gene variation with a virus screening, then made a further study with genetic sequencing, which confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant. The patient was isolated from the rest of the patients, all measures were taken to avoid any possible contagion and, after our notification, the Southeast Tuscany Usl Company has started the process for tracing ” . “We met with colleagues in the area and with the Tuscany Region considering that this is the first case in Tuscany and that the Omicron variant seems very contagious – adds the medical director Gusinu – It is in fact to be clarified whether the increase in cases in South Africa is due to a greater transmissibility of this viral variant compared to the others circulating in previous waves. Our appeal is therefore to get vaccinated, for those who have not yet done so, and to take the third dose because the numbers of the new report from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità are very clear: those who are not immunized have 16 times the risk. of dying and, as regards the vaccine efficacy, after five months from the completion of the vaccination cycle, there is a sharp decrease in preventing infections “. Therefore, the specific sequencing activity is important, for which the Microbiology and Virology Laboratory Aou Senese is the reference center for the vast area of ​​southeastern Tuscany and one of the three highly specialized centers in Tuscany. “We carry out the sequencing for the identification of the variant, an investigation that lasts about 3 days on the positive swabs of our patients – explains Professor Maria Grazia Cusi, director of Microbiology and Virology of the Aou Senese, the first in Tuscany to isolate the Sars-Cov-2 virus in April 2020 -. Genomic sequencing provides us with an invaluable source of clues on how a virus is evolving and this allows us to evaluate, for example, the effectiveness of the vaccine and the sensitivity of the diagnostic tests in use – continues Professor Cusi – Il Sars-Cov- 2 has been around for almost two years but in this long period it has undergone many mutations, just think that Omicron has acquired 32 mutations in the Spike alone, making it more adept at evading our immune system. For this, it is essential to be vaccinated and undergo the third dose, as the vaccine protects us from hospitalization in intensive care and from the severe form of the disease. An example is our patient, vaccinated, infected with vari