Two New Omicron Sub Variants Under Investigation Says Who

Both BA.4 and BA.5 have been added to the organization’s watchlist. The first has already been identified in Scotland and England, with both countries reporting a case by March 30, according to the UK Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA). In a variation report released by the UKHSA last week, health officials said there were “potentially biologically significant mutations” in both variants. Globally, only a few dozen cases of BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in GISAID, a global database that tracks the spread of variants The WHO said it had begun monitoring the two subtypes because of “additional mutations that need to be studied further to understand their impact on the immune escape potential”. South Africa and Botswana have reported cases of BA.4 and BA.5, while Denmark has also identified the former. The oldest BA.4 sample reported to GISAID was from South Africa, with a sample collection date of January 10, 2022. However, the accumulation of genomes and the geographical distribution are more recent, indicating “that the variant is transmitted successfully,” the UKHSA said in its latest report. Viruses are constantly mutating, but only certain mutations affect their ability to spread or prevent previous immunity from vaccination or infection or the severity of the disease they cause. For example, BA.2 now accounts for almost 94 percent of all sequence cases and is more contagious than its siblings, but evidence to date suggests it is less likely to cause serious illness.

title: “Two New Omicron Sub Variants Under Investigation Says Who " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “Shirley Walley”

Both BA.4 and BA.5 have been added to the organization’s watchlist. The first has already been identified in Scotland and England, with both countries reporting a case by March 30, according to the UK Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA). In a variation report released by the UKHSA last week, health officials said there were “potentially biologically significant mutations” in both variants. Globally, only a few dozen cases of BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in GISAID, a global database that tracks the spread of variants The WHO said it had begun monitoring the two subtypes because of “additional mutations that need to be studied further to understand their impact on the immune escape potential”. South Africa and Botswana have reported cases of BA.4 and BA.5, while Denmark has also identified the former. The oldest BA.4 sample reported to GISAID was from South Africa, with a sample collection date of January 10, 2022. However, the accumulation of genomes and the geographical distribution are more recent, indicating “that the variant is transmitted successfully,” the UKHSA said in its latest report. Viruses are constantly mutating, but only certain mutations affect their ability to spread or prevent previous immunity from vaccination or infection or the severity of the disease they cause. For example, BA.2 now accounts for almost 94 percent of all sequence cases and is more contagious than its siblings, but evidence to date suggests it is less likely to cause serious illness.