Perhaps “I have the Covid», but no «it’s a cold» or maybe it could be a «classic winter fever»: on the eve of the holidays, the theme is always the same. The fear (almost terror) of getting sick but above all what are the symptoms? How do you understand what is happening? With the news coming from Chinese and the new ones variantsthis is the last scenario.
Bf7, Omicron’s “daughter” variant
The latest variant identified among the experts is BF.7 or BA.5.2.1.7, a subvariant of BA.5, itself a daughter of Omicron, the latest “concern variant” classified by the World Health Organization (WHO). Discovered in late 2021 in South Africa, Omicron has evolved into several particularly mutated and elusive subvariants, of which BA.4 and BA.5 have become the dominant ones. It is no coincidence that the second booster or booster of the anti-Covid vaccine is based precisely on an updated formulation on them. But even these strains continue to mutate and evolve, diverging from the original Omicron lineage. BF.7, as indicated, emerged from BA.5 and is one of the last subvariants to end up under the magnifying glass of experts due to its peculiarities.
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In a recent press release from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), the Omicron variant represents almost all of the sequences detected in the swabs of Covid patients in Italy, with a percentage of 99.96 percent (the residual 0.04 percent refers to recombinants between Omicron and Delta, the previous variant of concern). Among them, BA.5 is the most represented, with 92.41 percent of cases divided into over 140 different lineages, including BF.7, which with 12.32 percent of findings (as of December 2) is in second place, immediately behind BQ.1.1. at 13.25 percent. BF.7 has been identified in several other European Union countries, such as France, Germany and Belgium, as well as the United States, India and the United Kingdom. But it is above all in China where it is creating several headaches. As specified to Global Times by Dr. Li Tongzeng of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, BF.7 «it has a higher immune escape ability, a shorter incubation period, and a faster transmission rate».
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New Bf7 variant, cases growing from China to the USA
At the moment BF.7 is growing strongly in Beijing, while it is stable or declining in other countries. In the United States, for example, the incidence rose from 6.6 to 5.7 percent. In the UK, it also decreased from 7 percent in October. It is not clear how the growth in China could affect the impact of BF.7 globally and the emergence of potential further variants, but as specified by Professor Mohammed we have updated Covid vaccines against Omicron which are very effective in countering the pathogen. The recommendation of the experts is therefore to get vaccinated, because the vaccine is the most precious weapon we have to protect ourselves and others. Everyone should do the recommended doses for their age group/health condition.