This variant is spreading faster than the earlier Omicron variants, which resulted in a massive increase in cases throughout the winter.
A woman takes a Covid-19 test at a pop-up testing site, in New York. The first case of Omicron sub-variant XE in India was validated by the Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG). However, health experts say that the public should not be alarmed because the variant has yet to show evidence of widespread transmission or cause any severe symptoms.
Well, the situation is not so pretty in the US. Omicron arrived first, followed by its extremely contagious sub-variant, BA.2. That sub-variant spawned its own sub-variants, which are responsible for an increasing number of new coronavirus cases in the United States. According to experts, a new variant of the virus, BA.2.12.1, is fast spreading and will likely become the dominant form of the virus in the United States in the coming weeks. There is currently no evidence that this causes more severe disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.2.12.1 accounted for around 36% of all new cases in the United States.
This variant is spreading faster than the earlier Omicron variants, which resulted in a massive increase in cases throughout the winter. This version is a descendant of BA.2 and appears to have spread even faster, though the reasons for this are still unknown. New cases have grown in New York, though they are still well below the pandemic’s worst-case scenarios. However, a few counties have emerged as hotspots.
Rising infections will spread from the Northeast to the South and then to the West, causing more outbreaks, according to Dr. Krista Queen, director of viral genomics and surveillance at Louisiana State University. Cases have also increased by 50% in the last two weeks. However, because the availability of at-home tests has risen and the findings are sometimes not formally recorded, reported cases are likely an undercount of the virus’s true spread. Despite this, almost every reported infection in the United States is caused by an Omicron sub-variant, and while BA.2 is currently the most common, BA.2.12.1 is swiftly gaining ground. Hospitalizations have climbed at a slower pace than new cases, up 18% in two weeks. In the last two weeks, the number of deaths has dropped by 17%.
From an epidemiological point of view, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that an epidemiological point of view, it doesn’t appear that we’re seeing more severe diseases in regions where there are more cases. She added that as a result, we’re not expecting more severe disease from some of these sub-variants, but we’re looking into it.
Nonetheless, preliminary research reveals that BA.2.12.1 evades the body’s immune defenses more deftly than prior generations of the coronavirus, which may explain its rapid spread in part. “In two weeks, it will probably be everywhere,” said Massimo Caputi, a professor of biomedical science at Florida Atlantic University. However, the sub-variant is gaining ground as well.
Taj Azarian, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida, believes “the great unmasking” is to blame for the recent spike. He explained that we are in this moment of pandemic fatigue and complacency. While we must weigh the importance of mental health against the risk of infection, we have seen an increase in not only the Omicron variant but also other respiratory illnesses as a result.
Edited By: Vanshika Sahu
Published By: Raj kishor
