The Omicron COVID variant which has been gaining traction in the US is now being spread in the UK.
3.3 percent of samples in the UK were accounted for by BA.4.6 during the week of August 14. It now makes up around 9% of the cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.4.6 now accounts for more than 9% of recent cases. The variant has been found in many other countries.
We don't know what to think about BA.4.6. We have a lot of information so far.
The BA.4 variant is a descendant of the BA.4. BA.4 was first detected in South Africa in January of 2022.
It's not clear how BA.4.6 came about, but it's possible that it's a variant of a different one. When there are two different versions of the same virus, it's called recombination.
It will be similar to BA.4 in many ways, but it has a different way of entering our cells.
The R346T is associated with immune evasion, meaning that it helps the virus to escape from vaccinations and previous infections.
We have seen fewer deaths with Omicron than with earlier versions. This should apply to BA.4.6 as well. There have been no reports of this variant causing more serious symptoms.
Omicron subvariants are more transmissible than their predecessors. The current dominant variant of BA.5 seems to be better at evading the immune system. Other data supports this despite the fact that this information is based on a preprint.
According to the UKHSA, early estimates show that BA.4.6 has a better fitness advantage over BA.5 in England. It is shown that BA.4.6 has a higher growth rate than BA.5.
The fitness advantage of BA.4.6 was less than that of BA.5 and BA.2.
According to the University of Oxford, people who had received three doses of Pfizer's original COVID vaccine produce less antibodies than people who had only received one dose. It suggests that COVID vaccines might not be as effective as they could be.
The ability of BA.4.6 to evade immunity may be addressed by the new bivalent boosters which target Omicron. It will be determined by time.
One preprint study shows that BA.4.6 doesn't protect against Evusheld, a vaccine that protects people who are immunocompromised.
The emergence of new variant is concerning. The virus is still present in us and is trying to find new ways to overcome our immune response.
Omicron is a case in point, as we know people who have had carbon can contract it again. Subsequent episodes can be worse in some instances.
Vaccination still offers good protection against severe disease, and is still the best way to fight COVID. Bivalent boosters have recently been approved. Even more durable protection could be provided by the development of multivalent coronaviruses vaccines.
A recent study showed that a vaccine administered through the nose elicited a strong immune response against the original strain of the coronaviruses.
There is a pressing need to keep a close eye on new variants as they could lead to the next wave of COVID PAIN. The public pays to stay cautious and comply with any public health measures in place to prevent the spread of a very contagious virus.
The senior lecturer is Manal Mohammed.
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