Transformation is part of the nature of the virus. BA.2.75 seems to be able to spread quickly, but the severity of the disease it causes, for example, is not yet known.
The new omicron transformation subvariant of the coronavirus has been detected in India and ten other countries, including Germany, the United States, Great Britain and Australia. As far as we know, no observations have been made in Finland.
There are only a few cases and information about the transformation’s behavior, but researchers around the world are monitoring the situation.
The BA.2.75 is called the second generation variant because it evolved from omikron’s BA.2 variant.
The variant has been detected in several Indian states and appears to be spreading faster than other variants circulating in the region, says a researcher at Delhi’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology Lipi Thukral news agency for AP.
However, according to the AP news agency, it may take weeks before it is seen whether the latest modification will change the course of the pandemic.
Additional mutations make it easier for the virus to invade
It is not yet known whether BA 2.75, first detected in India, causes a more severe form of the disease than other variants of omicron. However, the sub-variant seems to be able to spread rapidly and bypass the protection provided by vaccines and previous infection.
– It is still early to draw conclusions, but it seems that the number of infections, especially in India, is even increasing exponentially, says the director of the clinical virology clinic Matthew Binnicker From Minnesota, USA, for the news agency AP.
Internationally, however, the number of cases is still small and information is therefore limited, says the geneticist and molecular biologist Ulrich Elling from the Austrian Academy of Sciences Deutsce Welle (switch to another service) – in the newspaper.
According to him, the subvariant has eight additional mutations in the spike protein compared to the BA.2 variant. Their location has caused researchers to worry about the variant’s ability to bypass immunity.
Still, according to experts, vaccines and booster shots are still the best way to protect yourself from the severe form of the corona disease.