Coronavirus: new subvariant of omicron spreads faster

version of coronavirus The one that has become the most dominant in the United States belongs to the omicron family, but scientists say it spreads faster than its predecessors, is able to evade immunity, and can possibly cause more serious illness.

Why? Because it combines properties of both omicron and delta, the most dominant mutation in the country in the middle of last year.

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A genetic trait that evokes the past of the pandemic, known as a “delta mutation” seems to allow the virus “bypassing pre-existing immunity from vaccination and previous infections, particularly if one was infected during the wave of omicron”said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. This is because the variant omicron original that swept the world did not have the mutation.

The “subvariant” of omicron which is gaining ground in the United States, known as BA.2.1.2.1 and responsible for 58% of COVID-19 cases in the country last week, is not the only one affected by the delta mutation. The genetic change is also present in other members of the family omicron, known as BA.4 and BA.5, which together dominate infections in South Africa. They have exactly the same mutation as delta, while BA.2.1.2.1 has one that is practically identical.

Genetic change is bad news for people who got sick with the variant omicron and they thought that doing so would make it unlikely that they would soon get sick with COVID-19 again. Although most people are not sure which variant caused their disease, omicron original caused a huge wave of infections late last year and early 2022.

Long notes that laboratory data indicate that prior infection with the variant omicron The original does not offer much protection against reinfection with the new subvariants, although the true risk of getting sick, no matter which variant, is unique to each person and situation.

However, those who previously got sick with the delta variant might have additional protection against the new mutations. A study by researchers at The Ohio State University that was released before being reviewed by other scientists revealed that COVID patients in intensive care for delta infections generated antibodies that better neutralized new mutations compared to patients who got sick with the variant omicron original.

“The antibodies of the infection by omicron do not seem to provide good protection against subvariants, compared to delta”, said Dr. Shan-Lu Liu, an author of the study and co-director of the emerging viruses and pathogens program at the university.

But Liu stressed that the level of protection a delta infection provides depends in part on how long ago the patient was ill. That’s because immunity wanes over time.

People who have become ill with the delta variant should not be considered invulnerable to the new variants, especially if they are not vaccinated, Long said. “I would say that no one is safe.”

The good news? Booster doses may offer strong protection against new mutations, Liu noted. In general, previous vaccinations and infections can protect people from the worst consequences of COVID-19. Scientists say that at this point it is still not certain whether the new mutation advancing in the United States will cause a significant increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Scientists are still trying to determine how virulent these new versions are. Long said he hasn’t seen anything that answers that question for him, but Liu said there is new data pointing to more serious disease. Liu stated that the subvariants have properties indicating that they are transmitted more efficiently from cell to cell.

The virus “it just hides in the cell and spreads through cell-to-cell contact,” Liu said. “That’s more frightening because the virus doesn’t come out so the antibody can work.”

Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, noted that the new mutations certainly don’t look any less virulent than previous versions of omicronand that in the coming months “it will be clear” if they are more or less virulent.

Meanwhile, scientists expect the new versions to spread quickly, as they are more contagious than their predecessors.

Although the use of home diagnostic tests makes it difficult to keep track of all COVID cases in the United States, data from Johns Hopkins University shows there are an average of about 107,000 infections a day, up from 87,000 two weeks ago. And the number of patients admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 has been on the rise since mid-April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I am hopeful that we will not see an increase in hospitalizations like in previous waves,” Long said. “But with COVID, any time there are a lot of people infected, it’s a matter of numbers. Some of those cases will be serious. Some of those people will need to be hospitalized. Some of them, unfortunately, will die.”

Source: Elcomercio

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