Local Dr. expects a national Omicron peak early next week

Posted on January 21, 2022
Dr. Vidya Sundareshan (Photo courtesy: Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – If you have delta, you probably have omicron.

“We have about 95 percent or over circulating strain is omicron, rather than delta,” Dr. Vidya Sundareshan told a University of Illinois Springfield webinar Friday. “It is being transmitted so rapidly, and it outcompeted delta in the hosts that were infected.”

Simdareshan, of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield and an advisor to the Sangamon County Department of Public Health, expects a national omicron peak Tuesday.

“Not all states are at the same level,” she said. “The 25th of January is when the peak is expected. However, in Illinois, the trend has started to come down.”

Omicron symptoms can include lower back pain, ear pain, and night sweats, Sundareshan said. Other symptoms could just be written off as a cold or allergies, and Sundareshan said that is where the importance of testing comes into play.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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