But how different is it compared to previous strains? What are the symptoms so far? Should we worry about it?
- The variant, scientifically known as BA.2.86, is a new offshoot of Omicron.
- It worries experts because of 35 mutations in its spike protein, the part of the virus that Covid vaccines are designed to target.
Many of the Pyrola mutations have unknown functions, but others are thought to help the virus escape the immune system.
And the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, last Wednesday, that the genetic jump is “nearly the same size” seen between the initial Omicron variant and the Delta variant.
Virologists cautioned that it is too early to say whether BA.2.86 has any new specific symptoms, as scientists are still analyzing recently discovered cases.
However, if it behaves like other Omicron variants, it may have some telltale signs to watch out for.
Everything you need to know about the new variant
Runny nose and sneezing
A 2022 study published in the journal Nature found that Pyrola’s precursor BA.2 was “significantly” associated with “cold-like” and “flu-like” symptoms.
The research, which monitored the prevalence and clinical manifestations of COVID-19 among more than 1.5 million adults in England from May 2020 to March 2022, also found that BA.2 was “positively associated” with runny nose.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told Mail Online:
- A combination of changes in the virus and immunity from previous infection and vaccination has altered symptoms associated with Covid over the past three years.
- It’s more like the common cold now than it was when we first encountered Covid.
- This does not mean that those who are most at risk due to underlying conditions will not experience more serious symptoms if they contract BA.2.86.
A 2023 study by scientists in Japan also found that “nasal discharge and sputum” were more common among people with the BA.2 variant, compared to BA.5.
Writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, nasal discharge was the second most common symptom reported.
None of these were the classic signs of the virus that Britons were initially warned to watch out for.
Headache
Nancy Crum, an infectious disease specialist at Avita Health System in Ohio and a member of the American Medical Association, told the organization last year that BA.2 symptoms also include headaches, in addition to nausea or vomiting.
Patients with the newer variants including BA.2 showed “much less” typical signs such as loss of taste or smell.
The Zoe-Covid Symptom Study has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to self-report their symptoms through smartphone apps.
App co-founder Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said that based on Zoe’s data, a runny nose remains the most common symptom of Omicron, followed by signs including headache.
Last year, the NHS also quietly expanded its list of all telltale signs of the virus to also include headaches.
exhaustion
Fatigue or not getting enough sleep is another major symptom frequently associated with variant BA.2.
Speaking to the British Medical Journal earlier this year, Professor David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said this was due to the “vascular component” of the breed.
“Non-refreshing sleep, basically, they’ll wake up feeling exhausted, as if they haven’t rested, as if they haven’t slept at all.”
sore throat
Another commonly associated sign of the BA.2 variant is a sore throat.
Professor Strain said: “Omicron subtype variants BA.1 and BA.2 appear to be transmitted from the lungs and nervous tissue to the upper airways.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Crum told the American Medical Association last year that she saw “a lot of sore throat and pharyngitis that we haven’t seen before” in patients with BA.2.
She added that some of the other symptoms that appeared were “very similar to other coronaviruses, such as fever and respiratory symptoms.”
fever
And in a 2022 Nature study, researchers from Imperial College London also found that “the highest odds ratio of all symptoms was for fever” for BA.1 and BA.2.
Research published earlier this year in The Lancet Infectious Diseases also found that more than 50% of people with BA.2 reported a fever.
Having a high temperature and having a fever or chills are common signs noted by the NHS and CDC.
persistent cough
A persistent cough is widely recognized as one of the three “classic” symptoms of Covid, along with fever and loss of taste or smell.
A persistent cough means coughing several times a day for half a day or more, and is usually a dry cough, unless you have an underlying lung condition that causes you to usually cough up phlegm or mucus.
However, if you have the coronavirus and start coughing up yellow or green phlegm, it could be a sign of an additional bacterial infection in the lungs that needs treatment.
How can it be treated?
According to the CDC, current tests to detect coronavirus and the drugs used to treat it, such as Paxlovid, Viklori, and LaGavrio, appear to be effective with BA.2.86.
But prevention is still advised, and Britons have been urged to continue testing for the virus if they start to develop symptoms to help reduce the chance of spreading it to other people.
Is it more dangerous?
- In Denmark, where the first cases appeared, the Statens Serum Institute said it was testing the virus to assess whether it posed a threat, but stressed there was currently no evidence that Pyrola causes more serious disease.
- Earlier this week, NHS officials stressed that “it will take several weeks for the virus to grow and its biological characteristics to be confirmed… Epidemiological studies cannot be carried out until there are more cases to include.”
- This variant has not been observed to make people more dangerous than other Omicron variants or to have any enhanced ability to evade immune protection provided by current vaccines or previous infections.
- Professor Young also told MailOnline: “Very recent work suggests that this variant is likely to be better able to evade the immune response. However, BA.2.86 appears to be less infectious than previous variants, and that is some good news. We need to Just to be watched closely over the coming weeks as children go back to school and people go back to work after the summer break.”
- Officials from the Michigan Department of Health, where the first case of the variant was recorded in the US, said the “older adult” had “mild symptoms” and was not hospitalized.
- As for the second American case, which was discovered in Virginia after the patient traveled from Japan, it was asymptomatic, according to descriptive data provided by contractors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- However, studies have indicated that BA.2 has been associated with reporting more symptoms and greater disruption to daily activity than other Omicron subtype variants, including BA.1.
Are vaccines still effective?
Early expert analysis shows that Pyrola may be more likely to cause infection in people who have had or been vaccinated against COVID-19.
But health officials in Britain have yet to make an official announcement about whether the new variant has any increased ability to evade protection from vaccines compared to other Omicron products.
Steve Russell, chief delivery officer and national director of vaccinations and testing, NHS England, said: “While it is difficult to predict the combined effect of the high number of mutations on disease severity, vaccine escape and transmission, the expert advice is clear: this represents the most promising new variant. alarming since Omicron first appeared.
He added: “The UK’s Health Security Agency has determined that the most appropriate intervention with the greatest potential impact on public health is to rapidly vaccinate all those eligible.”
Even if vaccines do not work perfectly against the variant, immunity is likely to remain resilient, with most Britons also exposed to previous Omicron variants.
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