UN well being company says preliminary information reveals BA.2 is a bit more infectious than earlier variations of Omicron.
A just lately found subvariant of the extremely contagious Omicron coronavirus pressure has now been detected in 57 international locations, the World Well being Group (WHO) says.
In its weekly epidemiological replace, the United Nations’ well being company famous on Tuesday that in some international locations, the sub-variant now accounts for greater than half of all sequenced Omicron circumstances.
It stated little was recognized but concerning the variations between the sub-variants however a number of research have recommended that BA.2, also called the “stealth variant”, was extra infectious than the unique sub-lineage.
Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist and the WHO’s technical lead on the coronavirus pandemic, instructed reporters that preliminary information indicated BA.2 had “a slight enhance in progress charge over BA.1”, the primary model of the Omicron variant.
Van Kerkhove stated there was “no indication that there’s a change in severity” within the BA.2 sub-variant.
Omicron infections
The extremely transmissible Omicron is usually recognized to trigger much less extreme illness than earlier variants equivalent to Delta.
The WHO stated Omicron, which accounts for greater than 93 p.c of all coronavirus specimens collected prior to now month, has a number of sub-lineages: BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3.
The primary variations recognized as BA.1 and BA.1.1 nonetheless account for greater than 96 p.c of all Omicron circumstances submitted to GISAID, it added, referring to the general public virus monitoring database.
Nevertheless, the company identified, in components of Europe and Asia, BA.2 has began to unfold sooner than BA.1.