Omicron throws out new ‘sub-variant’ virus questions | Coronavirus pandemic News

Scientists are following closely a recently discovered sub-variant Omikron variant to determine how the occurrence of coronavirus may affect the spread of a future pandemic.

The initial Omicron variant has become a major strain of the virus in recent months, but British health authorities have identified hundreds of cases of the latest version, called BA.2, while international data suggest it could spread fairly quickly.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified more than 400 cases in the UK in the first 10 days of this month and noted that the latest variant has been detected in another 40 countries, including a majority of recent cases in some nations. India, Denmark and Sweden.

The UKHSA announced on Friday that it had designated BA.2 as a variant under investigation (VUI) as cases were growing, although in the UK, the BA.1 lineage continues to dominate today.

The authority stressed that “there is still uncertainty about the importance of changes in the viral genome”, which called for vigilance, as recent cases have shown a sharp rise in the incidence of BA.2, especially in India and Denmark.

“What surprised us most was the rapidity of this sub-variant, which is largely circulating in Asia, in Denmark,” French epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told AFP.

Scientists need to assess how the virus continues to evolve and mutate. Its latest incarnation does not have the specific mutations used to follow and compare it with BA.1, with the previously dominant strain of the strain.

BA.2 has not yet been named as a variant of concern, but Flahault says countries need to be vigilant with the latest developments as scientists step up their vigilance.

“[France] pollution was expected to rise by mid-January. It didn’t happen and maybe it’s because of this sub-variant, which seems very transmissible but not more virulent, ”he said.

“It simply came to our notice then [sub-variant] it has different characteristics ”from BA.1 in terms of contamination and severity, the French public health agency said on Friday.

To date, only a few cases of BA.2 have occurred in France, but the country is monitoring developments that are spreading across the Channel.

“Comparable severity”

Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, says the word is not panic but “care”, “so far we have the impression. [BA.2 case] severity is comparable to the classic variant of Omicron cases.

“But there are a lot of questions on the table” and the properties of the new variant of the block need to be controlled.

“Very early observations from India and Denmark suggest that there is no significant difference in severity compared to BA.1.” he tweeted Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, added that the latest variants would not call into question the effectiveness of existing vaccines.

Peacock stressed, “We don’t have a strong handle today … how much more transmissible it can be than BA.2 BA.1. However, we can make some guesses / initial observations.”

“There are likely to be small differences in the effectiveness of the vaccine against BA.1 and BA.2. Personally, I’m not sure BA.2 will have a big impact on the current Omicron wave of the pandemic, “he added.

“Several countries are near or even near the peak of the BA.1 waves. I would be very surprised if BA.2 would cause a second wave at this time. Even with slightly higher transmissibility, this is not entirely a Delta-Omicron change and is likely to be slower and more subtle, ”he announced.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday that BA.2 would not make any changes to the game, as the variants appear “fairly regularly”. But he said he would save the verdict.

“It simply came to our notice then [BA.2] more or less the features we know in Omicron ”brand.