2023-09-02 07:25:11
Health officials around the world are closely watching the “Perula covid” strain, which is spreading rapidly around the world.
But how different is it compared to previous strains? What are the symptoms so far? Should we worry about it?
The variant, known scientifically as BA.2.86, is a new offshoot of Omicron.
It worries experts because of 35 mutations in its spike protein, the part of the virus that Covid vaccines are designed to target.
Many of the Pyrola mutations have unknown functions, but others are thought to help the virus escape the immune system.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the genetic jump was “nearly the same size” seen between the initial Omicron variant and the Delta variant.
Virologists cautioned that it is too early to say whether BA.2.86 has any new specific symptoms, as scientists are still analyzing recently discovered cases.
However, if it behaves like other Omicron variants, it may have some telltale signs to watch out for.
A 2022 study published in the journal Nature found that Pyrola’s precursor BA.2 was “significantly” associated with “cold-like” and “flu-like” symptoms.
The research, which monitored the prevalence and clinical manifestations of COVID-19 among more than 1.5 million adults in England from May 2020 to March 2022, also found that BA.2 was “positively associated” with runny nose.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told Mail Online: “A combination of changes in the virus and immunity caused by previous infection and vaccination has altered symptoms associated with Covid over the past three years.
It’s more like the common cold now than it was when we first encountered Covid.
This does not mean that those who are most at risk due to underlying conditions will not experience more serious symptoms if they contract BA.2.86.
A 2023 study by scientists in Japan also found that “nasal discharge and sputum” were more common among people with the BA.2 variant, compared to BA.5.
Writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, nasal discharge was the second most common symptom reported.
None of these were the classic signs of the virus that Britons were initially warned to watch out for.
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