A Danish study cited by Reuters showed that the new omicron BA.2 subvariable was more contagious than the previous BA.1 subvariate. According to this source, researchers also found that BA.2 is easier than its predecessor to infect people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The study analyzed coronavirus infections in more than 8,500 Danish households between December and January.
“We concluded that Omicron BA.2 is inherently more infectious than BA.1. It also has immunosuppressive properties that further reduce the protective effect” of the vaccines used so far, said a collective publication from the Danish Agency for Infectious Diseases Control (SSI), the University of Copenhagen, the Danish State Statistics Service and the Danish Technical University, Reuters reported.
However, as outlined in the report, vaccines continue to play an important role because, as the analysis showed, vaccinated people are less likely to be infected and transmit any of the subvariants than unvaccinated people.
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Omicron. The new sub-variant is one-third more infectious than the previous one
“If you come into contact with a BA.2 omicron at home, there is a 39 percent chance of infection within seven days. With sub-option BA.1, the probability in the same circumstances is 29 percent,” researcher Frederic Plessner. As noted, these data indicate that BA.2 is about a third more infectious than BA.1.
Furthermore, preliminary SSI analyzes showed that the risk of hospitalization did not change with each of the omicron subvariables.
Danish study confirms preliminary analyzes UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) From last week, which showed that BA.2 appears to have a much higher prevalence than its predecessor, Reuters reports.
A new sub-variant of Omicron was first discovered in the Philippines
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the omicron variant has three specific sub-variables: BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3.
The first samples containing BA.2 were tested in the Philippines. However, it is still unclear where the sub-variable first appeared. Discovered so far, incl. in the United States, Great Britain, Sweden and Norway.
Worldwide, the “original” BA.1 sub variant accounts for more than 98 percent of cases, but its close “cousin” BA.2 soon became the dominant strain in Denmark, for example, where it already accounts for about 82% of cases. . All cases of infection.
Main image source: Łukasz Gdak / East News
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