The pandemic of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 enters its third year, with a stabilized incidence and the end of many of the restrictions in much of the world. However, the virus continues to mutate, as indicated by the recent discovery by the WHO of a new variant, known as XE. Transmission makes it possible for new versions of the pathogenand now the World Health Organization studies two subvariants of Omicron.
This has been indicated by the establishment in the last hours, after detecting for the moment few instances of these subvariants of Omicron, so far the most contagious of the entire pandemic. The goal is to determine if BA.4 and BA.5, as they are calledmay be more virulent or contagious than the original.
Along with these subvariants, the WHO studies other ‘sisters’ of the original version of Ómicron, such as BA.1.1 and BA.3. “Their additional mutations mean they need to be studied further to understand its impact in the potential of immune escape”, indicates the organism. That it has a greater capacity for contagion or that it escapes the immunity of the vaccines It is something that they still cannot determine.
What is known about BA.4 and BA.5
Months after it was detected, the BA.2 sublineage now represents about 94% of the cases analyzed, in part due to its greater transmission capacity. However, studies suggest that does not imply an increased risk of serious illness. Regarding BA.4 and BA.5, the WHO reports that there are barely a few dozen cases, according to the data available in the GISAID database.
For its part, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, for its acronym in English) ensures that the BA.4 subvariant had been found in countries such as South Africa, Denmark, Botswana, Scotland and England. As for BA.5, all the cases were in South Africa, until last week the Botswana Ministry of Health reported the first cases of this subvariant, all of them in people between 30 and 50 years old, vaccinated with the complete schedule and with mild symptoms.
The UKSHA claims that in both subvariants there were “potential biologically significant mutations”. To date Denmark has reported three cases of BA.4, while South Africa has reported 45 BA.4 and 27 BA.5.
The three concerns of the WHO
This past Monday, the WHO Emergency Committee met again to study the evolution of the pandemic after more than two years. During the same, the general director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assured that it is “gratifying to see a downward trend in recorded deaths“, being the lowest in the last two years.
However, from the WHO they warn that transmission is still very high, raising the risk of the appearance of new variants, such as those reported in the last few hours. Tedros assures that, despite the immunity granted by vaccines and epidemiological improvement, “the pandemic is far from over”. According to the director general of the WHO, there are three factors of concern: the tiredness of the people, the duration of said immunity, which is not entirely clear, and the potential emergence of new versions of the virus.
In any case, remember that you have the tools needed to cut the transmission. “We have the systems to better understand the virus as it changes, and we have the vaccines, tests, treatments and social measures and public health to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.”