The emergence of a new mutant of the emerging coronavirus has sparked global concern after its rapid spread in the United States and the United Kingdom in recent days, accounting for nearly 9 percent of the number of cases recorded in the epidemic.
According to the Science Alert website, which specializes in scientific news, the release of BA.4.6, one of the main parameters of Amicron, has been confirmed, without knowing how it appeared until now.
The latest report on coronavirus mutations, published by the UK Health Security Agency, shows that in the week starting August 14, the new “BA.4.6” mutant accounted for around 3.3% of infections in the UK. . So that this percentage started to increase and now about 9% of cases have been recorded.
Similarly, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “BA.4.6” now represents more than 9% of recent cases reported across the United States, and the mutation in many other countries in The whole world is also monitored.
BA.4.6 is a new version of the mutant BA.4 originally developed by Omicron.
Although ‘BA.4’ was first discovered in South Africa in January this year and has since spread around the world along with the ‘BA.5’ variant, it is still not entirely clear how the new mutant appeared. But it may be a mixed mutation according to scientific studies.
Dr. Dirar Belawi, a consultant for the clinical drug treatment of infectious diseases, said in an interview with “Sky News Saudi Arabia”: 70% of the infections published in the world are caused by the mutated corona of the “PA4” and “PA5” types. “, but the mutant PA4.6 has started to appear recently, but its spread is not so great so far, and the percentage of its mutant in a certain country is still somewhat low.
The fear of the new mutant is because it contains two different mutations of PA5 in its backbone protein, designed to block the antibodies that the body naturally produces, according to Blawi. It produces from receiving the vaccine. Lab-made antibodies were not effective for this.
Of the 16 drugs that were studied, only one was confirmed to be able to fight this mutation, Blaavi noted.
A previous study showed that EvoShield antibodies, the only treatment available to protect people with poor immune function against Covid-19, may lose their potency against the BA.4.6 substrain.
And the University of Oxford stated that people who received three doses of Pfizer’s vaccine produced fewer antibodies in response to “BA.4.6” compared to “BA.4” or “BA.5,” which is a concern because it shows suggests that corona vaccines may be less effective against the new mutant.
Ballavi explained that as for the most common symptoms of this mutant, they are similar to those of the Omicron mutant, as the vast majority of infections are in the upper respiratory tract and rarely affect the lower respiratory tract. that the health condition of the patients does not deteriorate or they need to enter the care units.
Notable symptoms of this mutant include runny nose, muscle aches, watery eyes, cough, fever, runny nose, sneezing, and headache.
The consultant of clinical pharmacotherapy of infectious diseases emphasized: the spread of the new corona mutation requires that one’s eyes be kept open to it in order to predict its further spread by analyzing the genetic sequence of its spread, which requires an increase in the degree of vigilance against it. be open Becoming a “disturbing mutation”.
And the website Science Alert went on to confirm what Ballavi confirmed, that close monitoring of new variants, including BA.4.6, is an urgent necessity, as it may lead to the next wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
It also requires people to take basic precautions and follow infection control methods to prevent the spread of new mutations.
Source: Lebanon Debate
