Sub variants BA.4 and BA.5 could lead to a further increase in the number of cases in Europe

Make way for a new wave of Covid-19 pollution? The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) calls on European countries to closely monitor the emergence of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub variants, In a press release Posted on Saturday 14 May. “The rate in the European Union is currently low”defines text, “But they will be in control in the coming months.”which may lead to ‘Significant increase in the number of cases’. At this point, the CDC does not contain any items indicating an increase in the severity of Covid-19 cases caused by these subvariants compared to previous lines.

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Accordingly, the ECDC decided to move these two sub-variables of importance to a higher category, the category of ‘variables of interest’. Data is still limited but BA.4 and BA.5 “Looks more portable than its predecessors” Sub variants of Omicron, have been estimated with France 24 Epidemiologist Antoine Flaholt. Spike proteins include the mutations L452R, which increases its transmissibility, and F486V, which is associated with reduced neutralizing antibodies.

BA.4 and BA.5 were set at the end of 2021, and are now the majority in South Africa. They can now impose themselves in Europe. “The Portuguese National Institute of Health estimated that BA.5 represented approximately 37% of positive cases as of May 8, 2022.”, notes the ECDC, which adds that this sub-alternative should become dominant in the country by May 22. their competitive advantage “This is probably due to their ability to evade immune protection caused by infection and/or previous vaccination, especially if this has diminished over time.”.

In France, the BA.2 variant of Omicron is still pretty much dominant, According to Public Health France (SPF), for 99% of the last scan’s snapshots. But BA.4 and BA.5 have already been discovered in France and are subject“a enhanced monitoring, the health agency wrote in its epidemiological bulletin on May 5. SPF defines it as “May 2, 2022, two cases of BA.4 were confirmed and six cases of BA.5 were (done) in France and (were) under investigation”.