It was detected in November and is already responsible for 23.3% of Covid infections in the United Kingdom. Orthrus, a new variant of Omicron, may become dominant in the country, but nothing indicates that it is more serious
Fever, muscle aches, headaches, malaise, and hoarseness. These are the main symptoms of Orthrus (CH. 1. 1), the new variant of Omicron that was detected for the first time in November of last year, in Blaby, a city in the county of Leicestershire, in the east of England, and that at the beginning of of this month it had already spread throughout the United Kingdom.
According to analysis by the Sanger Institute, cited by the British press, on November 12 the new variant was responsible for 1% of the positive cases of Covid-19. Meanwhile, Ortro, named after the two-headed dog from Greek mythology, brother of Cerberus, has spread and is already at the root of practically one in five infections (23.3%) analyzed by the institute. Being that, in some areas of England, it is responsible for 100% of cases.
Despite the rapid growth, there is still no solid information to suggest that the new variant is more serious or dangerous than those previously identified. This despite the fact that Orthrus shares the P681R mutation with the Delta variant, which is presumed to be the origin of the virus’s greater ability to attack cells and cause more acute forms of the disease.
To 20Minutos Español, microbiologist María del Mar Tomás, spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, explained that, “Due to the high vaccination and pre-infection rates in Europe, Orthrus is not likely to pose any increased risk to public health..
The new variant has also been detected in Spain. Also in Portugal, confirms the information provided by the Ricardo Jorge Institute, within the scope of the study of the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in the country, updated on January 10. In the last week of 2022, Orthrus represented 6.7% of the Covid-19 cases registered in Portugal.
Source: Observadora