A new study shows that Omicron’s BA.4.6 subvariant can cause reinfections. A number of other subvariants now becoming known may do the same.
A subvariant of Omicron once again demonstrates immune evasion abilities, posing a threat to both vaccinees and patients from coronavirus.
As the American network NBC reports, a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the subvariant, called BA.4.6, could cause reinfection.
As of last Friday, BA.4.6 accounted for just over 12% of new Covid cases in the US, and has been detected in nearly 68% of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
These subvariants are not the only strains on which experts focus their interest worldwide. Other sub-variants of Omicron that have raised the interest – and concerns – of scientists are: BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7. (as it turns out the three each account for about 5% of new cases in the US.) Since the Omicron variant appeared the Omicron subvariants split into their own subvariants.
“It’s surprising to see how the virus continues to mutate at such a rapid rate,” said study author Dr. Dan Baruch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “This is essentially his evolution virus enhanced with ‘steroids'” he said characteristically.
Baruch’s study was small, including a sample of just 35 people who had either had a Covid vaccine or contracted Omicron. Most, regardless of illness, had at least three doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Blood samples showed that antibodies intended to neutralize the BA.4.6 subvariant was about twice as low from the antibodies for BA.5. “This suggests that Omicron it continues to evolve, and it continues to evolve in a way that becomes more contagious and more effective to escape vaccines and immune responses,” he said. “The results are actually a harbinger of new mutations that may be even more alarming.”
Viruses mutate at random, but mutations that give the virus an advantage over the immune system, vaccines or treatments tend to be the ones that are maintained.
“The virus is diversifying very quickly,” said Bill Hanagh, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
In addition, people have different levels of protection depending on which vaccines they have had (or not had) and how many infections they had. The boosted Covid vaccines, which only became available last month, target both BA.4 and BA.5. However, no data yet on how they work against BA.4 and BA.5not to mention the host of other minor sub-variants.
The World Health Organization is monitoring more than 300 sub-variants of Omicron around the world, Maria van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, said during a media briefing on Wednesday. All of them, he said, show increased transmissibility.
Adriana Hegy, professor of pathology and director of the Center for Genome Technology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said her team detected subvariants of Omicron XBB and XAZ in New York. These are not yet listed on the CDC’s relevant list. However, even as sub-variants are on the rise around the world, there is still no evidence that they make people sicker. Heggie’s team is not yet seeing an increase in Covid-related hospitalizations. “It’s not March 2020,” he clarified. “but I think we should be careful.”
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