WHAT IS STEALTH OMICRON BA.2 AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER SUB-VARIANTS?

Scientists are tracking cases from a new'version' of Omicron as the globe comes to terms with Omicron, which has overtaken Delta as the major form of the novel coronavirus. The first Omicron was called BA.1 and reached its peak in a number of countries. Scientists are tracking a mutation known as BA.2 or stealth Omicron, which is a close cousin of the mutation. Cases have been reported in Europe and Asia.

Vaccines will continue to provide equal protection against different kinds of Omicron, according to Dr. Boris Pavlin of the World Health Organization's Covid-19 Response Team. The announcement came amid allegations that the BA.2 subvariant was beginning to supplant Omicron's more prevalent and "original" BA.1 subvariant in nations like Denmark.

BA.2 is being classified as a subvariant since it is genetically similar to Omicron and hence cannot be considered a fully new and distinct variant of the novel coronavirus.

IS THERE A STEALTH VARIANT?

Several nations are reported recent increases in the BA.2 subvariant, according to the World Health Organization.

According to Trevor Bedford, a computational virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who has been studying the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, BA.2 accounts for around 82 percent of cases in Denmark, 9% in the United Kingdom, and 8% in the United States. BA.1 was easy to diagnose due to a missing target gene in standard PCR testing, however this is not the case with BA.2.

Because it lacks the same missing target gene as the Omicron mutation, the BA.2 is referred to as a'stealth' variety. Scientists are tracking the number of virus genomes given to public databases like GISAID, much as they did with previous varieties like Delta.

RATE OF TRANSMISSION

The BA.2 subvariant is significantly more transmissible than the original variant, according to a study published in the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Early findings suggest that BA.2 may be even more infectious than BA.1, which is currently very contagious.

Based on preliminary evidence, Danish health officials believe BA.2 is 1.5 times more transmissible than BA.1. However, they believe the disease's severity is substantially lower. "We're not seeing any bigger increases in hospitalisation than predicted in other nations where BA.2 is already surpassing," Pavlin noted. According to Pavlin, the subvariant is already dominating in the Philippines, Nepal, Qatar, India, and Denmark.

WILL THERE BE INFECTIONS THAT BREAK THROUGH?

It's still unclear if persons who were infected during the BA.1 outbreak will be immune to BA.2. Early reports from Denmark indicate that areas where BA.1 infections were common were also seeing an increase in BA.2.

"This might be a two-humped camel kind of wave" if earlier BA.1 infection does not protect against BA.2. Dr. Egon Ozer, an infectious disease researcher at Northwestern University, told Reuters, "It's too early to say if that will happen." The good news is that immunizations and boosters continue to "keep people out of the hospital and protect people from dying," he said.

ARE THERE GOING TO BE MORE SUB-VARIANTS?

A variation is a viral genome (genetic code) that contains one or more mutations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. A variant may have one or more mutations that distinguish it from other SARS-CoV-2 viral components.

The WHO has recognised two more subvariants under the Omicron umbrella in addition to BA.1 and BA.2: BA.1.1.529 and BA.3. Genetically, they're all related, but each has a mutation that could change how they act.