The BA.2 subvariant of the omicron variant of the coronavirus recorded an 84% prevalence in positive tests for Covid-19 compiled by laboratories. The data was released by the ITPS (All for Health Institute) this Thursday (28) and also shows an increase in the positivity rate of the samples collected.
The survey carried out by the institute involved almost 8,000 tests carried out at Dasa and DB Molecular laboratories between April 17 and 23. In this interval, the number of positive tests increased from 6.2% to 11.7% – in total, 833 diagnoses of Covid-19 were confirmed.
The institute measured cases caused by the subvariant of Sars-CoV-2 with a test called Special PCR, which detects the S gene, from which it is possible to infer the sub-lineage that caused the infection.
Thus, the ITPS observed that, in this period, 84.3% of the samples were from BA.2. Before, in a survey also carried out by the entity, the subvariant had already shown a leap in Brazil. From February 29 to March 19, it went from 3.8% to 27.2% among the positive cases analyzed. Another report released by the institute on April 14 had already identified BA.2 in 69.3% of the samples.
In Brazil, there have been cases of the BA.2 lineage of the ômicron variant since February this year. According to ITPS, it has already been registered in 122 municipalities in 13 Brazilian states.
BA.2 proves to be more contagious than the original strain of Omicron. Outside the country, it has also been spreading: in the United States, for example, it is already responsible for 85% of cases, according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control).
New identified subvariant
Other subvariants of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, continue to emerge. One of these cases was from a sub-lineage confirmed this Wednesday (27) in the city of São Paulo.
According to the Dasa laboratory network, the discovery comes from the sample of a three-year-old child. The material was collected on February 16, 2022 for an RT-PCR exam.
The laboratory completes that this recombination of the coronavirus comes from two other subvariants of the omicron that have already been detected — BA.1 and BA.2, the one that has had the highest number of cases.
Also according to the laboratory network, the Adolfo Lutz Institute, linked to the São Paulo State Health Department, which works in the areas of sanitary, epidemiological and environmental surveillance, has already been notified.
The Health Department confirmed that it had already been notified by the laboratory and that “the case is under epidemiological investigation by the municipality of São Paulo”.
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