Scientists say the variant – called BA.2.75 – may be able to spread quickly and overcome immunity from vaccines and previous infection. It is unclear whether it could cause more severe disease than other omicron variants, including the globally prominent BA.5. “It’s still too early to draw too many conclusions,” said Matthew Binicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “But it seems that, especially in India, the transmission rates are kind of showing that exponential growth.” Whether it will surpass BA.5, he said, has yet to be determined. However, the fact that it has already been detected in many parts of the world, even with lower levels of virus surveillance “is an early indication that it is spreading,” said Shishi Luo, head of infectious diseases for Helix, a company that supplies the virus sequencer. . information at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The latest mutant has been detected in several far-flung states in India and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there, said Lipi Thukral, a scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi. It has also been detected in about 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. Two cases were recently identified on the US West Coast, and Helix identified a third case in the US last week. The concerns of fuel experts are a large number of mutations that separate this new variant from its omicron predecessors. Some of these mutations are in regions associated with the spike protein and could allow the virus to bind to cells more efficiently, Binnicker said. Another concern is that genetic modifications may make it easier for the virus to bypass antibodies – protective proteins produced by the body in response to a vaccine or infection from a previous variant. The story continues But experts say vaccines and boosters are still the best defense against severe COVID-19. In the fall, the US is likely to see updated formulations of the vaccine that target newer omicron strains being developed. “Some might say, ‘Well, vaccination and boosting didn’t stop people from getting infected.’ And, yes, that’s true,” he said. “But what we’ve seen is that the rates of people ending up in hospital and dying have gone down significantly. As more people have been vaccinated, boosted or naturally infected, we’re starting to see background immunity levels around the world rise.” It may take several weeks to understand whether the latest mutated microbe can affect the trajectory of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who studies viruses at India’s Christian Medical College in Vellore, said the growing concern about the variant underscores the need for more sustained efforts to track and identify viruses that combine genetic efforts with information of the real world about who gets sick and how badly. “It is important that surveillance is not a first-and-first-served strategy,” he said. Luo said BA.2.75 is another reminder that the coronavirus is constantly evolving — and spreading. “We would like to go back to life before the pandemic, but we still have to be careful,” he said. “We have to accept that we now live with a higher level of risk than in the past.”
Ghosal reported from New Delhi. Ungar reported from Louisville, Kentucky. The Associated Press Health and Science Section is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Division. AP is solely responsible for all content.
