Today, coronavirus behaves more like other respiratory viruses, with limited fluctuations in infection levels, and the population's overall immunity has reduced the risk of major waves of transmission.
According to Denmark's Statens Serum Institut and Professor Allan Randrup Thomsen of the University of Copenhagen, the disease has also become milder than it was during the first years of the pandemic, TV 2 reports.
Researchers emphasize, however, that the virus continues to evolve through mutations, meaning future developments cannot be predicted with certainty.
The Statens Serum Institut believes that ongoing surveillance remains necessary.
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Mutations change the picture
International surveillance data show that a variant originating from Omicron BA.3 has been detected again after several years.
According to researchers, the variant may have evolved over an extended period in a chronically infected patient in South Africa, where the virus had the opportunity to mutate gradually.
The current variant differs from the original by more than 40 additional mutations.
It was first identified in surveillance samples in 2024 and has since spread to several countries.
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Unusual pattern
The most unusual aspect of these developments is not the severity of the disease, but who is becoming infected.
According to the Statens Serum Institut, a higher proportion of infected children is being observed than before, particularly among the youngest age groups, who have lower immunity to earlier Omicron variants.
At the same time, the institute assesses that the variant does not cause more severe illness than other known variants, and a new major wave of infections is not expected.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.