New variant of Covid causes concern among scientists after detection in several countries

It is not clear if the BA.2.86 variant results in more severe illness or whether it will prevail as the predominant form of the virus. However, the identification of this variant in several countries has left scientists in a state of alert.

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The World Health Organization announced that it has placed under monitoring the newly discovered variant BA.2.86 - Photo Reproduction/Internet

A recent variant of Covid is causing concern in the scientific community due to its significant amount of mutations. This new strain was identified in London and is known as BA.2.86. Its detection was through genetic analysis, although only a few sequences have been officially communicated so far.

The first case was identified in Israel, and later this variant was also found in Denmark and the United States. This Friday (18), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced the detection of this variant in the country.

Discovery

Meera Chand, Deputy Director ofUKHSA, confirmed that a case of the new strain has been detected in the UK and that a health agency is conducting a more detailed analysis on the discovery. According to a risk assessment released this Friday byUKHSA, the case registered in the United Kingdom has no recent travel history. This suggests an already established international transmission and a level of community spread in the country. More details on the UK broadcast situation will be released in the coming weeks.

Chand claimed that the correspondence between Genetic sequences in different countries suggested a relatively recent emergence and accelerated growth in the circulation of the variant. However, this is still considered a preliminary analysis due to the limited amount of available sequences. The agency reported that, at the moment, there are no adequate data to assess the severity or the level of immune evasion of BA.2.86 compared to other circulating variants.

Monitoring

A World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday (17) the inclusion of the new BA.2.86 variant of the Covid-19 virus in its monitoring system, due to the detection of a considerable number of risks. During the opening of the meeting of the health ministers of the G20 countries, the 20 largest world economies, held this Friday, the director general of the WHO, Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, emphasized the importance of all countries remaining attentive to the evolution of the virus.

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States also announced that they are closely monitoring this variant, following its detection in the state of Michigan.

New Strain

There are lingering questions as to the severity of the variant, and it's unclear whether it will become the dominant form of the virus. Its quantitative genetic alterations include more than 30 tests on the spike protein compared to the currently prevalent variant. In addition, its detection in several countries has left scientists in a state of alert.

The teacher François Balloux, who leads the UCL Genetics Institute, stated that the BA.2.86 strain stands as the most notable Covid-19 variant seen since the emergence of Omicron. He explained that the most likely scenario is that this strain accumulated its lives over a prolonged infection in an immunocompromised person, over more than a year, before spreading again.

"Since then, BA.2.86 has likely circulated in a region of the world with poor viral surveillance and has now been exported repeatedly to other places in the world," he said.

Balloux stated that in the next ones it will be possible to better understand the performance of the new variant compared to other sub variants from Omicron. According to him, so far, there is no information about its transmission capacity or how virulent this variant is. Initially, there is no expectation that its behavior will be distinct from the Omicron strains that are currently in circulation.

According to Balloux, even in the most unfavorable scenario, where variant BA.2.86 triggered a significant new wave of cases, the new variant is not expected to carry similar levels of severe illness and death as those seen at the beginning of the pandemic, when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants were spreading. He emphasized that most people have already been vaccinated, had contact with the Covid-19 virus or both. However, it is important to emphasize that a wide manifestation of infection by BA.2.86, or any variant that may arise in the future, would be a passive event.

Evolving virus

The WHO director-general emphasized in his speech at the G20 health ministers' meeting that, despite Covid-19 no longer being considered a global health emergency, it still poses a significant threat. He highlighted that one of the main lessons learned from the pandemic is that health at risk puts everything at risk. WHO is currently closely monitoring three variants of interest and tracking seven other variants. The organization reiterates the importance of countries intensifying their surveillance, genetic sequencing and communication, as the Covid-19 virus continues to circulate and undergo evolution.