First cases of omicron COVID variant in South Carolina identified

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina have identified the first cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant in the state, according to a release issued Wednesday morning.

“It is three cases, all of them in the Lowcountry,” said Julie Hirschhorn, Ph.D., who directs the molecular pathology lab that found them. “Two out of the three (cases) were fully vaccinated, but not boosted. And one had only one dose of the vaccine.”

One case was in Charleston, another in North Charleston and the third on Johns Island, MUSC said.

Hirschhorn’s lab sequences all COVID cases that come through MUSC for testing, according to the release. Sequencing involves looking at the virus’s genome to check for variants. The scientists sequence in batches they call runs.

“Since the identification of omicron in Africa, we’ve been trying to do a run each week to make sure that we’re sequencing as real-time as possible,” Hirschhorn said. “The more real-time you do sequencing, the better handle you have on what’s going on in the population.”

The first omicron case in South Carolina involved a COVID sample collected for testing on Dec. 4, MUSC said, meaning the variant has been in the state for at least a couple of weeks.

“When a new variant is identified, the first thing that we can really get a good handle on is transmission, because we watch the number of cases and how quickly that increases -- and omicron is pretty prevalent right now over in the U.K. The U.K. seems to be doubling omicron cases about every day,” Hirschhorn said.

“So, it does seem to be more transmissible than delta. There’s not a whole lot of evidence about severity of the disease yet, because we’re just starting to see the hospitalizations,” she said. “In Australia, hospitalizations are pretty low. The hospitalizations in the U.K. also appear to, in early terms, suggest that it’s maybe a more mild disease. That’s great, except that if you have COVID circulating in large quantities, then you always have that ability for more mutations to happen. And so, I think it’s pretty critical that people try and protect themselves in any way that they can.”

Hirschhorn encouraged people to get booster shots.

“All three of our omicron cases were in people at least six months out from their latest shot,” she said. “The data supports that if you’re six months out, you should probably get boosted.”

MUSC said that as we head into the winter holidays, COVID cases are on the rise in South Carolina, with most involving the delta variant. Hirschhorn said it’s less important for people to know which variant they were infected with because it won’t change the treatment they get.

“I encourage people to consider risk stratification going into the holiday season and just being cognizant of what you want to do and finding a way to do it that’s safer,” Hirschhorn said.

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Behind-the-scenes: UNCC lab increases COVID-19 variant testing during holidays

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