Study says that Omicron caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths only because of high vaccination and better treatments by the time it emerged.
The illness is marked by a distinctive barking cough and sometimes noisy, high-pitched intakes of breath known as stridor.
The research, recently published in the journal Allergy, found that only individuals vaccinated with a third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine form antibodies that can partially block Omicron.
According to the World Health Organisation, BA.2 now represents 86 per cent of all sequenced variants, making it more transmissible than the BA.1 and BA.1.1 strains.
The observational study, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, describes 75 children who came to the Boston Children's Hospital emergency department (ED) with croup and COVID-19 from March 1, 2020 to January 15, 2022.
The researchers found 67 cases in which the same individual had become infected twice at a 20-60-day interval, and where both infections were due to Omicron subtypes.
South Korea recorded 6,21,266 new infections and 429 deaths in 24 hours in a record surge. A senior official said explosion of Omicron cases that has been bigger than they expected.
"It is a silent killer….I suffered in the first wave but recovered in four days, but now in this wave, it has been 25 days and I am still suffering," Ramana said.
The reports from the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development were received on January 31. 73 cases were reported positive with 54 Omicron...
