Where did Omicron come from? It is a weird variant. It descended from a coronaviruses that was circulating 18 months ago, not from any of the other concerns. Where has it been all this time? Why is it only making havoc now?
There are a number of hunches being explored by researchers. Omicron arose in a remote region of southern Africa but did not spread until now. It is thought that it evolved in rats and then crossed into humans. A third explanation is gaining ground as more data comes to light, that Omicron came from a person with a weakened immune system, such as a cancer patient or an organ transplant patient.
The possibility has caused concern. Africa is home to two-thirds of the global population living with HIV. 8 million people in the region are not on effective HIV therapy because of a number of reasons.
The risk that people with HIV are driving the emergence of Covid variant is more than the direct problems that this causes with disease progression and vulnerability.
