Worldwide, the latest sub-variant of OmicronBA.5, is fast becoming the dominant strain of virus SARS-CoV-2. Il “New Covid” ha just took the top spot in the United States: In the last week of June, BA.5 accounted for more than half of all new cases of Covid-19, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ). That’s a 10 percentage point increase from the previous week. For several reasons, including the lack of protections and mutations in the virus, BA.5 can now be difficult to keep under control.
Omicron 5 does not stop, 20 thousand positive health workers: interventions and visits postponed. The hospitalized children doubled in 7 days
The power of BA.5 (and its brother BA.4, which makes up about 16% of new cases in the United States, has the same spike protein mutation as BA.5, but doesn’t seem to spread that quickly) is its ability to infect and reinfect almost anyone. This highly contagious strain can evade immunity built up by people, whether from vaccination or from a previous infection. As Nature reports, laboratory studies show that even people who have the so-called «hybrid immunity» vaccination and a previous infection with the Omicron BA.1 strain are less able to prevent reinfection from the BA.4 or BA.5 strain. Experts believe this is largely due to changes in the virus’s spike proteins. The current ones vaccines and Covid-19 boosters target the original strain of the virus rather than any of the variants, so being vaccinated doesn’t offer the same protection as it once did against infections. Fortunately, vaccines still provide ample protection against the worst outcomes of the disease.
Omicron 5, peak of infections in Italy between 10 and 15 July. The case of Portugal and the forecast for August
The reinfections
Since BA.4 and BA.5 took over, «we have seen some cases of reinfection»Dr. Wesley Long, an experimental pathologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, told CNN, «and I have seen some cases of reinfection with people who had a BA.2 variant in the past few months». This virus combines increased virus transmissibility and increased immune evasion with fewer protection warrants across the country, and the threat of infection is high. Conditions are also ripe for the emergence of new variants, as the risk of mutations increases as the virus spreads. Additionally, recent research (which has yet to be reviewed) found that people who were reinfected by Covid-19 had a higher risk of hospitalization and death than people who were once infected. They were also more likely to develop new and lasting health problems, including lung and heart problems, fatigue, digestive and kidney disorders, diabetes, and neurological problems.
The vaccines
Vaccine makers are trying to keep up with the virus. On June 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the new booster vaccines for the fall «must aim for BA.4 and BA.5». But while companies are developing new vaccines to specifically address the Micron, it is still unclear how effective they will be in addressing the newer sub-variants or, if the virus continues to evolve this rapidly, if anything developed now will be obsolete when it becomes available. The good news is that from what experts can tell so far, the BA.5 variant is not causing a more severe form of infection (although scientists are still collecting new data on this), the reported symptoms have not changed much and the rates of death and hospitalization in the United States are lower than those of the winter Omicron wave. (This may change, however, as there appears to be a recent slight increase in hospitalizations, according to the CDC.) Meanwhile, experts recommend that people over 50 not delay taking their boosters, as the risk of infection right now it’s high.
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