The World Health Organization (OMS) announced today that it is considering as “previously in circulation” the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus cause of the COVID-19and will now focus on the study of new subvariants of the last one, which have emerged since 2022.
One of the omicron subvariants, XBB 1.5, considered one of the most contagious and currently one of the most present in cases of the pandemic, is now considered a “variant of interest”, while five others (BQ.1, BA .2.75, CH.1.1, XBB and XBF) become “variants under surveillance”.
If any of them deserves greater monitoring and special prevention measures, it would become a “variant of concern”, as alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron were, and a new letter of the Greek alphabet would be assigned to it, indicated the OMS it’s a statement.
The ‘retired’ variants
The delta variantfirst detected in India, was the predominant one until the end of 2021, in which omicron (first found in analysis in South Africa) gradually replaced it.
The omicronIn addition to being easier to transmit, it develops new subvariants more quickly, which have multiplied since last year, creating some confusion in monitoring the evolution of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 cause of the COVID-19.
The announced changes “do not imply that the circulation of omicron viruses has ceased to be a threat to public health,” clarified the OMSwhich stressed that the modification “is carried out to better identify new potential threats.”
The OMS Remember in any case that the variants derived from omicron tend to affect the upper respiratory tract (pharynx, trachea…) and not the lower one (lungs) like the previous ones, a fact that contributes to making the cases generally less severe. (EFE)
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