New BA.2.75 Omicron Subvariant: Here’s the ‘Centaurus’ Covid-19 Coronavirus

While it is not the “centaurus” of COVID-19 attention yet, the new BA.2.75 Omicron subvariant is worth keeping a close eye on. This so-called “centaurus” subvariant, first found in India, has now appeared in at least 10 other countries, including the US, and there are no eight-simple reasons why ba.2.75 can potential Be even more related to the already related BA.5 subtype of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Before you run around the room flapping your arms in panic, though, emphasize the word “likely” as opposed to “of course” or “of course.” Plus, public health officials would never say, “Okay, everybody, it’s time to panic.”

Speaking of public health officials, guess who is monitoring BA.2.75 now? Who is the World Health Organization? If you look at the World Health Organization (WHO) tracking SARS-CoV-2 variant website, you will now find BA.2.75 classified as a VOC-LUM. VOC What is a VOC-LUM? Well, it stands for Variant of Concern (VOC) Lineage Under Monitoring (LUM), which basically means that these are offshoots of variants that have already been considered as VOCs and should be closely observed. The list of VOC-LUM currently includes several sub-lineages of the BA.2 Omicron subvariants (that is, BA.2.12.1, BA.2.9.1, BA.2.11, BA.2.13, and BA.2.75). BA.1 and BA.2 with two sister lineages of the Omicron subvariant (consisting of BA.4 and BA.5).

BA.4 and BA.5 have already been proven to be twisted sister lineages, so to speak. During a July 6 media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, noted that, “On COVID-19, there has been a nearly 30% increase in reported cases globally over the past two weeks. Four out of six of the WHO sub-regions saw an increase in cases in the past week.” Clearly, it goes against COVID that some people are trying to spread unreasonably. The WHO Director-General then specified that “in Europe and the Americas, BA.4 and BA.5 are driving waves,” before mentioning Centaurus: “A new sub-lineage of BA.2.75 has also been detected in countries such as India.” That’s what we’re chasing.”

BA.4 and BA.5 are essentially making waves as they have proven to be more permeable than previous versions of the virus.

• However, there may be another unavoidable reason for their Covid-19 surge production role: evading immunity. Immune escape may sound like a ride in a bad amusement park, but it shows what happens when a virus accumulates enough mutations to appear distinct enough to evade any existing immune defenses.
• It would be like having your high school classmate undergo such plastic surgery or such an extreme makeover that you end up asking her during a reunion, “Hi, have we met before?” Essentially, the mutation may have made BA.5 so different from the original SARS-CoV-2 and other earlier versions, such as the alpha, beta and delta variants, that you may already have vaccinations or enabled immune protection from previous infections. May not be able to adequately detect and protect against BA.5.
• Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, led him to call BA.5 “the worst version of the virus we’ve seen”. as i wrote for Forbes On Sundays, such a description is like calling Transformers: The Last Knight worst of transformer Movies. When the worst of something happens, it certainly isn’t good news.
• Ah, but, if BA.5 already looks very different from earlier versions of viruses like the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron subvariants, the “centaurus” subvariant takes the whole makeover thing eight steps further. It is not clear who came up with the nickname “centaurus”, which is probably an extension of the word “centaur”.
• Centaur is a creature that is half human and half horse. It’s a mythical creature if you’re wondering if that description matches your boss. Still, such a moniker could potentially apply to something that looks vastly different from anything you’ve seen before. The following tweet from Topol explained how different BA.2.75 looks compared to BA.5:
• Topol included a tweet thread from Ulrich Elling, PhD, a researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, Austria. This tweet thread showed which parts of the spike protein of the BA.2.75 virus are affected by these mutations.
• Note that the affected areas include the receptor-binding part, which is the part of the spike protein that first docks with your cells like how your hands grasp a refrigerator door handle before going inside. In his tweet thread, Elling stated that “The number of 8 additional mutations in BA.2.75 is remarkable, there were a total of 8 spikes in delta. 3 mutations can make a huge difference (BA.5). Thus BA.5 and BA.
• The 11 mutations varying between .2.75 may allow yet another wave because the BA.5 immunity cannot protect,” as you can see here:
• As seen above, Elling described his formula as “highly specific” in all caps. This would be considered highly speculative as more data and information is needed before one can draw more definite conclusions about how risky BA.2.75 may be. Just because BA.2.75 is different doesn’t mean it will become a big problem.
• In order to overtake other versions of the virus, BA.2.75 must be more fit than BA.5 and other variants in some way. In this case, being more fit means not being able to do more push-ups on your smaller spikes. This means being able to survive and spread more easily than other circulating forms.

Is BA.2.75 really more transmissible than other variants and subvariants?

To put it perhaps, in the words of Carly Rae Jepsen. There have been some suggestions that this may be the case. For example, Mike Haney, founder of Manga Solutions, a data visualization company in Melbourne, Australia, posted the following graph showing how recognition of BA.2.75 has grown in India, where this subvariant was first detected:

Before saying “oh, honey” about this increase, take this kind of information with a fanny pack of salt until more data and studies can more accurately determine the transmittance of BA.2.75. do not come to the fore. Sure, BA.2.75 has already appeared in at least 10 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, but for it to spread, it has to surpass BA.5. And it’s not going to be easy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), BA.5 is the current dominant, alpha-dog version of the virus in several countries, including the US, where it now accounts for an estimated 53.6% of estimated Covid-19 cases. ,

It is also not yet clear whether BA.2.75 can make Covid-19 worse, as Soumya Swaminathan, MD, WHO chief scientist, emphasized in the video with the following tweet:

Again, we have as much to learn about BA.2.75 as Yoda might say. So don’t jump to conclusions just about what this subvariant can do. At one end of the spectrum, BA.2.75 can go the way of characters from many reality TV shows, which makes news for a moment before falling back into obscurity. At the other end of the spectrum, the bad end, this variant may eventually displace the others as the new alpha-dog and fuel additional growth. Then there are a bunch of different possible scenarios that fall between these two extremes. Predicting what will happen to one subvariant so soon and what other competing subvariants may emerge can be like trying to predict what fashion trends will be. The heck who predicted that knit crop tops, sagging pants, and way-to-ripped jeans would become popular before they actually did?

Regardless, the emergence of BA.2.75 shouldn’t change what you’re after should There are already with an emphasis on the word “should”. This is another reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is definitely not over and that COVID-19 precautions are still needed, regardless of whether some people, politicians, your Uncle Fred, the person at the smoothie bar, or those anonymous Can try social media accounts. to tell you. While the new BA.2.75 may or may not become the “centaurus” of COVID-19 attention in the coming weeks or months, the key is to stop the horse (or half-horse) before it leaves the barn and stop COVID-19. Bounce before it happens.