Coronavirus, Omikron | Omikron sub-variant raises concerns in several countries. This is what FHI says
New findings from Japan point to worrying aspects of the omicron sub-variant BA.2. The study was published last Wednesday on bioRxiv, a platform where medical researchers can post their findings before they are peer-reviewed. CNN has had American experts look at studies on the BA.2 subvariant.
“It may be, from a human perspective, a virus that is still BA.1, and it may be more easily transmitted and cause more serious diseases,” said Daniel Rhoads, head of the Department of Microbiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. to CNN.
Chief physician and professor Preben Aavitsland at the National Institute of Public Health will not readily agree with the latest conclusion and points out that BA.2 has not been shown to cause more serious illness in Denmark, but he confirms that the omicron subvariant BA.2 spreads somewhat more easily yet BA.1 and that it is expected to take over in a few weeks in Norway.
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According to the findings of the new studies, BA. 2 also resistant to antibody treatments approved for use in Norway. The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has previously said that BA.2 is an «even more mutated version of omikron than BA. 1 ». Kei Sato, a researcher at the University of Tokyo, believes the findings are so worrying that BA. 2 should not be put on as a sub-variant of omikron, but as a separate variant that must be followed closely.
– A new letter in the Greek alphabet
FHI has previously found out that BA. 2 are only identified on samples that become whole genome sequences. The fact that the variant is difficult to detect through today’s PCR tests has also caused warning lights to flash in the researchers of this study.
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– To find a new method to discover BA. 2 should be the first thing many countries need to find out, says Sato.
Virologist Deborah Fuller from the Medical University of Washington believes that the sub-variant will become a separate variant.
– It may look like we’re looking at a new letter in the Greek alphabet, Fuller says to CNN.
More contagious than omicron
Several studies have confirmed at BA. 2 is about 30 to 50 percent more contagious than omicron. CNN writes that the sub-variant has so far been discovered in 74 countries. However, the whole picture is not so gloomy. Fuller points out that antibodies in the blood of people who have recently had omicron, combined with vaccination, will provide a degree of protection against BA. The 2-sub variant. The virologist is aware that there are two sides to the same issue here, namely that the virus develops, but that the same thing happens with our immune system. However, she has a clear message:
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– We want the immunity to be a step ahead of the new variant that is coming, but I do not know if we will be there. Therefore, it is a bad idea to stop wearing a face mask now. Let’s go all the way to the finish line, she tells CNN.
– The researchers are wondering
FHI chief physician and professor Preben Aavitsland has previously said at BA. 2 will «ravage» all winter.
To Nettavisen he says this about the possibility that BA.2 gives as serious disease as old variants:
– The researchers speculate on the basis of animal experiments that BA.2 can cause more serious diseases than the original omicron variant BA.1. We prefer to see what’s going on among people in the real world. From Denmark, which BA.2 has taken over, it reports that BA.2 does not cause more serious illness than the original omicron variant BA.1.
– Is there a need for a new method of detecting variants?
– We can detect the BA.2 variant through whole genome sequencing. It has no consequences for patients if they are infected with omicron BA.1 or omicron BA.2, so such studies do just to follow developments in the country, says Aavitsland.
– Is there reason to fear that BA.2 will take over and prolong the epidemic also in Norway by giving enough serious diseases that we will again have to introduce invasive measures?
– It is hardly relevant. BA.2 spreads better than the original omicron variant BA.1 and does not appear to cause more serious diseases. We will therefore continue to give advice that it must be the burden on the hospitals, and special intensive care units, that decides whether to assess new initiatives.
Aavitsland says BA.2 is quite different from BA.1 and that it can therefore have its own name.
– It still has no practical significance and will not change our handling, he adds.
FHI mentions the BA.2 variant in its report for week 6.
Facts about BA.2 in Norway
BA.1 decreases, BA.2 increases
Prevalence of omikron BA. 1 is still declining, while omikron BA.2 is increasing, FHI announced in its weekly report on 6 February. Nationally, BA.2 accounted for 19 percent of the samples analyzed in week 6, but with regional differences.
Dominant in Denmark
BA.2 has been somewhat widespread globally, but is now completely dominant in Denmark and seems to be taking over in Sweden as well, and increasing in several other countries, FHI summed up in the weekly report. It presents the figures which show that omicron subvariant BA.2 is now increasing significantly in several counties. According to FHI, it seems to take over for BA.1 also in this country.
Like the risk of reinfection
The number of reinfections with BA.1 was 5 percent of all detected cases of BA.1 in the last 4 weeks per. February 6th. During the same period, reinfections with BA.2 accounted for 6 percent of all detected cases of BA.2. FHI says that this indicates that BA.1 and BA.2 give approximately the same risk of reinfection, if you have previously been infected with delta or previous variants.
(SOURCE: Covid-19 Weekly Report – Week 6)