The US is once again facing another wave, with the latest Omicron subvariant, BA.5. The rise in cases has led to an increase in hospitalizations, but the COVID death rate is relatively low compared to earlier Surges in the Pandemic.
In parts of the world, the strains of BA.5 and BA.4 have overtaken their predecessors. The director-general of the World Health Organization said in a July 6 briefing that the last two weeks had seen a 30% increase in carbon 19 cases. There has been a decrease in testing levels in multiple countries.
In the US, those two strains accounted for 81.3% of cases in the week ending July 9, with BA.5 being the more dominant of the two strains.
The emergence of a new strain is a reminder that the Pandemic is still going strong. This is what you need to know.
The most contagious strain we've seen so far is called BA.5.
The challenge is that every new strain is going to be more infectious than the old one. That's the reason that strain takes hold in the population. It's not just that it's better but that it's different.
BA.5 has taken over at a slower rate than BA.1 did.
He said that it took BA.5 over two months to get to this point, compared to the original Omicron wave which took about a month. It's not as fast as Delta, but it is more gradual.
Peter Chin-Hong is an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco Health Division of Infectious Diseases.
Some places still have a lot of BA.2. He said thatBA.5 is at a moderate pace.
The chief of the division of children's infectious diseases at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine said that being exposed to BA.5 could cause people to test positive for it for a long time. The higher concentration of the virus in the body is caused by BA.5 entering the cells more easily.
Patients are positive for a longer period of time when concentration stays high.
Because there are so many different strains in the mix, your immunity may not be as strong as it was before.
Chin-Hong said that if you have an infection that wasn't BA.5 you will be vulnerable to it.
He said that in the old days, there was only one thing in town, so if you got sick, you wouldn't get sick for three months. If there's no one dominant thing, you can get a lot of different things. That doesn't mean that you won't be exposed to a different strain in the next few weeks.
It's even more complicated because no one knows what strain they'reinfecting with. People only test for the coronaviruses if they have one. The process of decoding the genetic makeup of the virus is done on a limited amount of positive tests that are not public, and that data is used to estimate how the virus is moving in a community.
He said it will be difficult for people because they don't know what they have. It is possible that it is one of a bunch of different things.
The symptoms from BA.5 are similar to previous Omicron subvariants, according to experts.
Chin-Hong said that it was very similar to BA.2. The loss of taste and smell is reduced.
The difference between this wave of infections and the early ones is that there are fewer hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions. Many people have some level of immunity at the moment.
He said that if people don't have complete immunity, at least they have partial immunity from previous infections or vaccinations. They generally result in outpatient disease when they get breakthrough infections.
There is a "mild" case of COVID-19 that can knock you out for a few days.
Chin-Hong is confident that most people who are vaccine and boosted will not end up in the hospital.
It's not a walk in the park for everyone, and being infectious is so disruptive to your life.
There isn't enough data to make a conclusion about long COVID from BA.5 according to experts.
Even if you don't get a severe case, there's still a risk of long-term health consequences.
He said there's emerging evidence that the more times you're exposed to COVID, the more inflammation you can cause. It can cause long term damage to the gastrointestinal system. It can result in strokes and heart attacks.
Most of us are aware of what we can do to lower our chances of getting an infectious disease.
Getting your booster shots is one of the best practices.
If you haven't already received your second booster shot, the CDC recommends that you do so starting in May 2022, if you haven't already.
According to the CDC's guidance, people can get frustrated with the changing recommendations.
If you're wondering if you should wear a mask in crowded areas, the answer is definitely no. Studies show that high-quality, well-fitting masks can protect you even when you're the only one wearing one.
If you're careful, it's okay to socialize.
He said to continue to mask if you're in a crowded setting. If I were on a trip, I would still wear a mask, but I wouldn't wear it all the time.
Those with a healthy immune system should not be concerned about this strain more than previous ones, as long as they are protected.
Your age and health will affect how you assess your risk tolerance. A person in their 80s or 90s is more likely to be seriously ill if they catch the virus than a person younger than them.
It's important where you socialize and who you are with. Spending time with people who are vaccine-boosted lowers your risk of getting an infectious disease.
"If you're with people who take this seriously, so that they will test themselves if they are sick, that's the right thing to do," he said. You can have more confidence that you can stay safe.
It's possible to increase your protection against the virus by using every tool at your disposal. Paxlovid has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths in people with Covid-19.
He said it was a different place than a year ago. It doesn't mean you won't get into an accident if you don't wear a seatbelt. You are decreasing your chance of getting injured.
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