Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Infection with the first widely circulating version of Omicron protects against the emerging BA.2 subvariant — as does vaccination.
25 February 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00558-w
Saima May Sidik
Good news for the pandemic-weary: a study[SUP]1[/SUP] shows that previous infection with the widely circulating BA.1 version of the Omicron coronavirus variant provides strong protection against its relative BA.2, which is growing in prevalence. The results suggest that BA.2 is unlikely to cause a major wave of infections in communities that have experienced a BA.1 wave.
“When I read it, I said, ‘This is definitely reassuring,’” says Eric Topol, a genomicist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. The study, which was published on the preprint server medRxiv, has not yet been peer reviewed.
Since the Omicron variant was identified in November 2021, its BA.1 subvariant has dominated in most parts of the world. In the past few weeks, however, the proportion of cases attributable to BA.1’s sister subvariant, BA.2, has begun to rise.
The two strains diverged around a year ago — months before scientists identified them — and they have since accumulated substantial genetic differences, leading scientists to wonder whether BA.1 infection would provide protection against BA.2. Earlier this month, researchers found that the BA.2 subvariant spreads more quickly than BA.1. It also causes more severe disease in hamsters — a common model for studying respiratory illnesses — than does the BA.1 subvariant[SUP]2[/SUP], raising concerns that it would cause another spike in cases. ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00558-w
25 February 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00558-w
Saima May Sidik
Good news for the pandemic-weary: a study[SUP]1[/SUP] shows that previous infection with the widely circulating BA.1 version of the Omicron coronavirus variant provides strong protection against its relative BA.2, which is growing in prevalence. The results suggest that BA.2 is unlikely to cause a major wave of infections in communities that have experienced a BA.1 wave.
“When I read it, I said, ‘This is definitely reassuring,’” says Eric Topol, a genomicist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. The study, which was published on the preprint server medRxiv, has not yet been peer reviewed.
Since the Omicron variant was identified in November 2021, its BA.1 subvariant has dominated in most parts of the world. In the past few weeks, however, the proportion of cases attributable to BA.1’s sister subvariant, BA.2, has begun to rise.
The two strains diverged around a year ago — months before scientists identified them — and they have since accumulated substantial genetic differences, leading scientists to wonder whether BA.1 infection would provide protection against BA.2. Earlier this month, researchers found that the BA.2 subvariant spreads more quickly than BA.1. It also causes more severe disease in hamsters — a common model for studying respiratory illnesses — than does the BA.1 subvariant[SUP]2[/SUP], raising concerns that it would cause another spike in cases. ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00558-w
