Ómicron’s new underline should become dominant in Portugal
“It is estimated that the frequency of the group of sublines that constitutes BQ.1 is about 20%, although it is one of the main genes (BQ1.1), which has an association associated with the escape from the immune detachment system, it has a frequency of about of 6%”, said the National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge (INSA) to the Lusa agency.
On October 21, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warns of a possibility that BQ.1 and its subline BQ.1.1 will become dominant in the EU/EEA (European Union and European Economic Area) between mid-November and early December 2022.
If this prediction is confirmed, there could be an increase in the number of cases of covid-19 in Europe in the coming weeks, according to the epidemiological update released by the European center.
The first cases of BQ.1 were detected at the beginning of this beginning in Portugal and, in recent weeks, an emphasis has started a growing trend, advanced the INSA, adding that “everything indicates that it could become dominant” in the country.
“However, several highlights will become suspect still in the process of classification of escape from the system and immune, whose association can still be considered as difficult before being considered dominant”, he stressed.
According to INSA, at this stage, one can only “speculate that a potential increase in hospitalizations is due to an increase in the number of infections, given the greater transmissibility of BQ.1”, since it is unknown whether it is more associated with severe disease than other strains of the Ómicron variant.
According to the ECDC, preliminary laboratory studies in Asia indicate that BQ.1 has the ability to evade the immune system response, but, according to the available data, “there are no studies that can be associated with increased severity of infection. compared to Ómicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 variants”.
As reported today by the World Health Organization (WHO), BQ.1 has already been detected in 65 countries and is showing a significant growth advantage over other emphases of the Ómicron variation in the United States and Europe.
“At the moment, there are no epidemiological data that suggest an increase in the severity of the disease”, underlined the WHO.
Since 20 genetically modified20 profile of SARS-CoV, with the aim of determining the purpose of the virus to identify and monitor as chains of transmission.
43,000 coronavirus genome sequences have already been carried out, representations of more collected in Portugal from 300 laboratories, projects and institutions representing Portugal.
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