Lately the focus has been on Omicron’s “Eris” sub-variant. But the latest variant of COVID, BA.2.86, is described as “radically different.”
Health authorities are tracking another new variant of COVID-19 that has a large number of mutations.
The new lineage, named BA.2.86, was classified last week as a “monitored variant” by the World Health Organization (WHO).
There is no evidence that it spreads faster or causes more severe disease, but scientists are keeping an eye on the variant that has been found in Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel.
What are the latest variants that authorities are tracking?
COVID infections and hospitalizations are already on the rise in the US, Europe and Asia, with many cases this summer being attributed to the EG.5 Subvariant “Eris”descendant of the Omicron lineage.
Public health authorities are now tracking another variant, BA.2.86, due to its more than 30 mutations.
BA.2.86 comes from an “earlier branch” of the coronavirus, so it differs from the variant that current vaccines target, said Dr. S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital.
He said it remains to be seen whether BA.2.86 will be able to outcompete other virus strains or have any advantage in escaping immune responses from a previous infection or vaccination.
One of the reasons the WHO upgraded EG.5 to a “variant of interest” was that it has increased in prevalence compared to other variants, for example.
‘Radically different in structure’
As many countries have drastically reduced testing of COVID-19 cases, this may complicate efforts to find new variants.
In that situation, the trajectory of BA.2.86 “doesn’t look good right now,” given the rate at which new cases are being identified, said Dr. Eric Topol, an expert in genomics and director of the Scripps Translational Research Institute in La Jolla. , Calif.
Its many mutations make BA.2.86 “radically different in its structure” compared to previous variants, Topol said.
The main question, he added, is whether BA.2.86 will turn out to be highly transmissible.
ADVERTISEMENTThe WHO has urged countries to continue surveillance and sequencing of COVID-19 cases, but said there was “very limited information available at this time” on BA.2.86.
Will people have more severe disease with these variants?
A broader spread of BA.2.86 would likely cause more illness and death in vulnerable populations, Topol said.
But it’s too early to tell if BA.2.86 will cause more serious disease.
“Based on the available evidence, we do not yet know what, if any, risks (BA.2.86) may pose to public health beyond what has been seen with other lineages currently in circulation,” a Center for Control said. and the US Disease Prevention (CDC), the spokesperson said.
Rowland Kao, from the University of Edinburgh, told Euronews Next last week that if a new variant were to cause a rise in COVID-19 cases, the number of hospitalizations in combination with other viruses could cause problems for healthcare systems.
ADVERTISEMENTWill the vaccines be effective against new variants?
“The vaccine will continue to provide a great defense against disease and death,” Long said.
The COVID boosters being developed now were manufactured to target Omicron’s XBB sub-variant.
Moderna recently announced that its updated COVID booster vaccine demonstrated an immune response against the EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants. The vaccine was also shown to be effective against Omicron’s circulating XBB strains.
Pfizer has also said that its updated COVID-19 vaccine showed neutralizing activity against the Eris subvariant in a mouse study.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.