WSJ: Stealth Omicron is highly contagious, but its severity is similar to that of its original counterpart
“This is the first time that two competing mutations have appeared at the same time in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
WHO recommends follow-up and research without designating a ‘variant of concern’
The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) ‘Stealth Omicron’ (BA.2), a sub-mutation of the Omicron mutation (BA.1), is spreading rapidly, having been confirmed in more than 40 countries around the world.
Stealth Omicron has emerged as the dominant species in Korea, England, and Denmark, overtaking the original Omicron.
BA.2 spread first in Europe and became the dominant species in Denmark and the UK, and recently became the dominant species in Korea.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Critical Headquarters), the proportion of BA.2 patients among the confirmed cases in the first week (2.27~3.5) of this month was 22.9%, but in the second week (3.6~12) 26.3% and in the third week (3.13-19) 41.4% It increased and last week (3.20-3.26), 56.3%, more than half.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also announced on the 30th that 54.9% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from the 20th to the 26th were those infected with the BA.2 mutation.
Interest in BA.2 is increasing as the original Omicron, which puts the high fatality rate of the delta mutation epidemic and raised expectations that COVID-19 is in the stage of turning into an endemic, has been pushed out to BA.2.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the United States on the 29th (local time) said that researchers and public health officials are closely monitoring BA.2, and summarized the reality of BA.2 that scientists and public health experts have identified so far.
According to virologists, BA.1 and BA.2 are related variants that diverged from the same ancestor.
The two mutations have many of the same mutations, and only about 20 mutations, including the spike protein, which play an important role when infiltrating human cells, are different.
Dr. Mark Zeller of the Scripps Research Institute (SRI) in San Diego, California, USA, said that Omicron and Stealth Omicron are the first cases of two competing mutations appearing at the same time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WSJ said that BA.2 was nicknamed the stealth omicron because it was more difficult to identify than the original micron, but it was not more difficult to detect than other previous mutations, the WSJ said.
In the gene amplification test (PCR), three pieces of genetic information are used to confirm whether it is a coronavirus or not. It was only possible to check.
However, stealth Omicron has all three types of genetic information, even though it is a sub-mutation of Omicron.
This means that it has become more difficult to distinguish them from conventional mutations or original omicrons.
Stealth Omicron has been confirmed to be stronger than previous mutations such as the original Omicron, but it is not clear whether there is a difference in the risk of severe induction.
According to the research results confirmed so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that BA.2 is estimated to be 30% more infectious than BA.1.
BA.2 Appearance In the early hamster experiments, it was also shown that BA.2 penetrated into the lungs of animals better than BA.1.
However, there is no significant difference between BA.1 and BA.2 in terms of severe induced risk.
According to the initial analysis of the National Serum Research Institute in Denmark, where BA.2 was prevalent first, there was no difference in the hospitalization rate between BA.1 and BA.2 confirmed patients. 1 was found to be similar to that of the infected.
According to a study at New York University in the United States, in the case of BA.2, the monoclonal antibody treatment used for the treatment of COVID-19 seemed to have lower efficacy than BA.1, but other treatments and vaccines showed similar effects on the two mutations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to suspend its use at medical institutions in Massachusetts and New York, stating that the treatment effect of Sotrovirab, an antibody treatment for COVID-19, was found to be ineffective for BA.2.
However, according to research results recently published in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ (NEJM), Gilead Science’s remdesivir, Merck & Company’s Molnupiravir, and Pfizer’s Paxrovid are all BA. 2 was found to be effective.
The researchers also believe that there is no significant difference between BA.1 and BA.2 in the effectiveness of vaccines.
Because the mutation difference between the two viruses mostly exists outside the important domain recognized by the immune system, the immune system learned about the COVID-19 virus through vaccination can prevent severe progression regardless of BA.1 and BA.2 infection. will be.
BA.2 infection has been confirmed in at least 40 countries so far, the HSA said, but at this point it is impossible to determine where the mutation first appeared.
BA.2 has recently attracted the greatest interest in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, but unlike the WHO designating five of alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and omicron as ‘variant of concern’, BA.2 does not designate a variant of concern and recommends follow-up and study to researchers.
/yunhap news