The World Health Organization has confirmed that the second version of the omicron mutant called “BA.2”, which is spread especially in Denmark, does not cause more severe symptoms than the original version “BA.1” (BA.1) that is currently spreading. In the world.
“We don’t see any difference in terms of risk between PA.1 and PA.2 and therefore the level is the same in terms of hospitalization risks,” WHO official in charge of combating Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said during a press conference via social media.
She added that this finding is “really important, because in many countries there was a huge outbreak of BA.1 as well as BA.2.”
She explained that this result was reached on Monday by an advisory committee of experts on the evolution of the virus that causes Covid-19 disease.
She pointed out that this conclusion is reassuring and eagerly awaited, after the concerns caused by the publication of preliminary results of a study conducted on hamsters, which seemed to show that “PA.2” caused more severe forms of the disease than the “PA.1” version.
Van Kerkhove said the researchers who prepared the study presented their findings to the committee.
The World Health Organization official took the opportunity to call on the countries of the world not to dismantle the devices that are used to detect new mutated versions of the virus, in parallel with lifting health restrictions in many countries.