Several Omicron variants are circulating around the world. But what are they? Why aren’t we as concerned about it as WHO officials are?
The height of the pandemic may be over, but the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate, with multiple variants circulating in different countries.
Nevertheless, testing and surveillance are declining, and experts are urging people to continue taking the threat of the disease seriously.
“The world is moving forward from COVID-19 and in many ways that’s a good thing because people can be protected and keep themselves safe, but this virus isn’t going anywhere. It’s cyclical, it’s changing, it’s killing people, and we have to keep it going,” Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 technical lead, told the Euro. He told News Next.
What are the most common new coronavirus variants currently?
All of the mutant strains currently in circulation are substrains of Omicron, a highly contagious variant of COVID-19 that first emerged two years ago.
1 subsystem, EG.5, nicknamed Eris, which accounts for more than half of the new coronavirus infection variants currently circulating around the world. It was declared a variant of interest by the WHO in August.
Cases of EG.5 increased over the summer, but a closely related subvariant called EG.5 recently outpaced it in the United States. HV.1. This variant now accounts for 29% of coronavirus infections in the United States, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“HV.1 is essentially a variant derived from EG.5.1 (and previously XBB.1.5) that has accumulated several mutations that make it more infectious to people who have immunity to SARS-CoV-2. “It’s just that,” said Professor Andrew Pecos. in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from Johns Hopkins University in the US, told Euronews Next.
Pekos, who studies respiratory virus replication, said these variants likely emerged as random mutations as part of the virus’ natural evolution.
According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), XBB 1.5-like variants, such as EG.5 (Ellis), are currently predominant, accounting for approximately 67 percent of cases in EU/EEA countries.
The prevalence of another omicron sublineage called BA.2.86 The virus is “slowly increasing globally,” according to the WHO, which recently classified it as a “variant of interest.” The sequences were first reported in Israel and Denmark in July and August.
“BA.2.86 was of great concern to scientists when it emerged because it is a mutant strain with numerous mutations in the spike protein, which is a target for the protective immunity conferred by vaccines and infectious diseases, among other things. Because it was,” Pekos said.
Scientists believe this variant likely originated in people with weakened immune systems, which allows the virus to replicate faster and accumulate mutations, but it has not yet become dominant. yeah.
However, French authorities recently announced that most cases of BA.2.86 in the country are of the new sublineage JN.1, which is “predominantly prevalent in Europe, especially France, although it has also been detected in other countries.” did.
Pekosz said there appear to be more mutations that make the virus more transmissible.
Should we be concerned about new variants of the coronavirus?
RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, “make more mistakes and don’t have the ability to correct those mistakes,” Pekos said. They are known to detect mutations faster than viruses.
SARS-CoV-2 and its spike protein also appear to tolerate many mutations, similar to what scientists have observed with influenza.
But so far, while scientists are keeping an eye on these mutations, they have not seen any change in the severity of the disease, and the tests we use are still detecting the virus.
These new variants will continue to emerge, and “they will continue to cause hospitalizations and deaths for the most frail members of our society, especially those with certain underlying health conditions,” the University of Wisconsin Infectious Disease Research Institute said. said immunology professor Andrew Pollard. Oxford.
advertisementHowever, Pollard does not foresee a “restart of the pandemic” as the world’s population has strong immunity from vaccinations and previous infections.
Although new families of coronavirus infections are “likely generated by mutations,” “no one has yet been as successful as the predominant omicron variants, at least so far,” he said.
The worst-case scenario is that new variants spread faster and cause more severe disease for which vaccines are not effective.
“We will not take anything for granted. We are planning for different scenarios when it comes to variants and their detection,” said Van Kerkhof, WHO’s Interim Director for Epidemic Preparedness and Prevention. he said.
Reduced testing and surveillance is a ‘challenge’
So far, these variants have not caused a significant spike in new cases or hospitalizations, and experts say there is still enough sequencing to detect new variants. Efforts are said to be decreasing.
advertisement“What we’ve lost recently is the ability to really understand the entire diversity that exists in these viral populations,” Pekos says.
Van Kerkhove encouraged people to continue getting tested if they think they have been infected with coronavirus. This allows scientists to track the virus and later sequence it to study possible mutations.
“If you don’t get tested, you can’t sequence it,” she says.
Reductions in testing and sequencing and increased delays in data acquisition are “very difficult for us and reduce our ability to do risk assessments for each of these variants,” she added.
Most importantly, even as the world moves forward, experts believe that people should be vaccinated to prevent further spread of COVID-19 and avoid being in crowds or at risk of severe COVID-19. It recommends wearing a mask around people with high levels of diabetes and getting tested.
advertisement
