- BA.5 is not new.
- First identified in January, it has been tracked by the WHO since April.
- Coronavirus cases worldwide have now been rising for four weeks in a row, WHO data showed.
The newest coronavirus variation to produce extensive waves of infection worldwide is BA.5, a member of the Omicron family as reported by Reuters.
The most recent report from the World Health Organization indicates that it was behind 52% of cases when they were sequenced in late June, up from 37% in a week. It is thought to be the root of about 65% of illnesses in the United States.
Rising case numbers
BA.5 is not brand-new. It was initially discovered in January, and the WHO has been monitoring it since April.
It is a close relative of the Omicron strain, which has dominated the global microbial landscape since the end of 2021. Even with less testing, it has already increased case rates in a number of nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and portions of Europe in addition to South Africa, where it was first discovered.
According to WHO data, the number of cases of the coronavirus has been increasing for four weeks running.
Why it is spreading
Similar to its closely related sister BA.4, BA.5 is very adept at getting over the immune defences provided by immunisation or prior infection.
The WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, stated during a news briefing on Tuesday that “BA.5 has a growth advantage over the other sublineages of Omicron that are circulating.”
This indicates that many people are being infected again, frequently not long after contracting COVID-19. The WHO is reviewing allegations of re-infections, according to Van Kerkhove.
“There is strong evidence that BA infections spread from Omicron-infected individuals. There’s no doubt about that,” Gregory Poland, a virologist and researcher on vaccines at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, made the statement.
If it appears unusually common right now, it might just be because so many people received Omicron, according to researchers.
No more severe
In certain nations, additional hospitalizations have resulted from an increase in cases, although deaths have not significantly increased.
This is primarily due to the fact that vaccines still offer protection against serious sickness, mortality, and infection, and that producers and regulators are also considering modified vaccines that specifically target the more recent Omicron variations.
The WHO’s Van Kerkhove emphasised that although increases in cases can strain health care and increase the likelihood of more people contracting lengthy COVID, there is no indication that BA.5 is any more harmful than any of the other Omicron variants.
Move beyond
The ongoing pandemic, which has been made worse by vaccine disparities and the desire in many countries to “move beyond” COVID-19, has been predicted by the WHO and other experts to result in an increase in unanticipated new variations.
The BA.2.75, which was initially discovered in India and contains a significant number of mutations and is rapidly spreading, is already receiving attention from scientists.
The WHO stated on Tuesday that the epidemic continued to be a global health emergency and that as cases spike, countries should also consider public health strategies like masking and social seclusion in addition to immunizations.
People “basically don’t grasp that something will mutate when there is this high level of community transmission,” said Poland. “Who can predict what may happen next. We’re experimenting with fire.”
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Source: Reuters
