No.We haven’t gotten used to it yet original Omicron variant that we already hear about Omicron 2, the “sister” or in any case a close relative.
It has already been found in over 40 countries around the world and in Italy, there are already nine cases. It has some differences from the original, but for the moment it doesn’t seem to pose much of a danger.
Omicron 2: what it is and what we know
The first variant we have known as Delta, the second which has caused massacres of infections in the Christmas holidays, is known to all, and is the Omicron. The third was not long in coming and, already in much of the world and also in Italy, sequences of this new transformation of the virus have been found.
Indicated with BA.2 initials, belongs to the same strain as Omicron (BA1). The two mutations are almost identical, but they are distinguished by some characteristics. Notably, BA.2 shares 32 mutations with BA.1, but also has 28 unique mutations. In all, he has 70 more mutations compared to the original Wuhan strain, while BA.1. has 53.
Furthermore, nin the new variant the S gene is absent, main feature of Omicron BA.1, lack that makes more difficult to detect through ordinary tests.
According to the first data, however, does not appear to have more severe effects on patients, nor increased potential resistance to vaccines, while appearing to be much more transmissible.
Omicron 2, the first cases in Italy
Despite the latest data fromIss, the National Institute of Health, confirm the predominance of the Omicron variant also in Italy, with 95.8 percent of cases, compared to the Delta which covers only the other 4.2, some cases of Omicron 2 have already been found in four Regions. There are 3 in Lombardy, 3 in Piedmont, 2 in Liguria and one in Campania.
Diffusion in the world
The BA.2 variant has been found in over 40 countries, but what is the origin has not yet been understood. South Africa and the Philippines, however it seems to have been the first states to identify it.
There Denmark, with Sweden, India and Singapore, however, it is the countries that have uploaded the highest number of sequences. Indeed, in the Danish country it seems that the new version is even more prevalent than the previous one, accounting for 65 percent of new cases.
Omicron 2: no alarmism, but be on the alert
According to the Danish virologist Anders Fomsgaard, there is nothing to worry about symptoms appear the same as in the Omicron variant and among the infected there are no major differences compared to the original variant.
Also agrees Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the San Martino hospital in Genoa, who invites us not to be alarmed towards something that is not yet known and that, from the first findings, moreover, does not hole the vaccines. So for now, the best thing to do is just don’t let your guard down.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED