A new sub-variant of omikron could lead to a wave of infection in the summer
BA.5-ALAVARIANTTI The Omikron variant is becoming more common in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), reports Helsingin sanomat newspaper.
Lasse LehtonenThe director of diagnostic services at HUS revealed to the newspaper on Wednesday that the infections caused by the subform have doubled weekly over the past couple of weeks, and expressed concern that a new wave of infection may be witnessing before the fall.
“Since mid-May, its share has started to grow clearly and the trend points to a clear increase,” he commented.
The subvariant can be detected directly by a standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. It is believed to have caused about eight percent of the infections found in the area last week. Lehtonen expects BA.5 to become the dominant variant in the whole country within a couple of months.
“Unfortunately, it looks like it’s happening,” he said.
The development is worrying, especially as the immunity provided by vaccinations is declining. People at high risk for severe forms of coronavirus disease, he said, should continue to protect themselves against underdevelopment with high-quality face masks.
“Four to six months after vaccination, at-risk groups are encouraged to use the FFP2 mask. It’s a pretty easy procedure if you’re at risk of getting a serious coronavirus disease. ”
Mika SalminenThe health security manager of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) recalled that the new sub-option has not changed the overall picture of the pandemic. New variants have tended to appear about every six months, and so far the latest sub-variant does not appear to be any more dangerous than previous omicron mutations.
“Our society needs to get used to the variations that emerge and cause potential new waves of infection,” he said.
“Vaccines seem to protect against severe forms of the disease as well as other sub-variants,” he added, stressing that health care systems can rely more on know-how and new drugs to treat coronavirus. disease.
Finland registered its first case of the BA.5 sub-variant a couple of weeks ago in Turku.
THL previously estimated that a new wave of coronavirus infections is likely to come by the fall or winter. On Wednesday, Salminen told Helsingin Sanomat that it is still premature to say whether the wave will occur earlier due to the new sub-variant and whether it will differ from the previous waves in any way.
“The fact is that infection rates have been declining here, and the number of patients in hospital and intensive care has also dropped significantly.”
Last Thursday, there were more than 485 people in hospital in Finland, 16 of whom were in intensive care. Nearly 11,000 new infections have been reported in the last seven days. The number of deaths associated with the coronavirus has also been declining for several weeks.
“In the summer, the conditions for spreading are worse. We wish you a warm and sunny summer as much as possible. ”
Aleksi Teivainen – HT