New Covid Variant Spreading in US, but Risk Is Low
Compared to Eris, BA.2.86 has a significantly lower growth efficiency, meaning that it is less capable of replicating itself in the human bodies
The new BA.2.86 variant, unofficially known as Pirola is taking hold in the United States.
The World Health Organization designated Pirola as a variant of interest on Nov. 21, yet it also found the public health risk posed by BA.2.86 to be “low at the global level (pdf).”
In an update published on Nov. 27, the CDC agreed with the WHO’s assessment “that the public health risk posed by this variant is low compared with other circulating variants, based on available limited evidence.”
Current Research Suggests Low Risk of Disease
Pirola is derived from BA.2, an earlier Omicron variant.
Other variants derived from BA.2 include XBB.1.5 which became the dominant strain in early 2023.
The current dominant variant is H.V.1, and it is derived from the variant EG.5, unofficially known as Eris, a previously dominant variant in the United States.
“At this time, BA.2.86 does not appear to be driving increases in infections or hospitalizations in the United States,” the CDC wrote.
Research outside of the United States similarly suggests that Pirola should be no more severe than current variants.
Compared to Eris, Pirola has a significantly lower growth efficiency, meaning that it is less capable of replicating itself in the host, the authors wrote.
“This is not the second coming of omicron. If it were, it is safe to say we would know by now,” Bill Hanage, associate director and professor of epidemiology at Harvard wrote on X on Sep. 1 ,when the variant’s prevalence was significantly lower.
Prior Infections Gives Immunity Against the New Variant
Compared to BA.2, its ancestral subvariant, Pirola has more than 30 mutations in its spike protein. The virus uses the spike protein to infect human cells.
The substantial number of mutations initially raised concerns among virologists, who feared this variant might partially evade earlier immunity from previous exposure, whether from natural infection or prior vaccination.
However, evidence is still lacking to predict if there will be more immune evasions as well as the severity of future Pirola cases.
Mr. Cao’s own research in mice who have been vaccinated or infected with XBB vaccines showed that the antibodies generated “cannot well recognize and neutralize BA.2.86,” he wrote in a thread posted on the social media platform, X.
However, Pirola had a low cell infectivity, which can affect the variant’s transmission, he added. In discussion of Mr. Cao’s findings, Mr. Hanage agreed that immune evasion is not a definite indication of more severe infection and transmission.
The most recent research on Pirola’s immune evasion abilities comes from a series of reports conducted by researchers at Columbia University. The first study, published in Nature, tested Pirola, XBB1.5, and Eris spike proteins against antibodies produced from a breakthrough XBB infection.
These antibodies conferred robust neutralizing activity against Pirola. The authors also noted that Pirola’s ability to evade immunity was no better than that of XBB1.5 and EG.5.
The authors found that, compared to all variants investigated, JN.1 was the most immune evasive against antibodies produced from the vaccine.
HV.1: The Current Dominant Variant
The current dominant subvariant is HV.1, a new variant derived from Eris.
Eris is currently the most dominant globally and HV.1 succeeded Eris as the dominating variant in the U.S. on Oct. 28.
Like Pirola, the WHO has classified HV.1 as a variant with low public health risk.
The variant accounted for about 31.5 percent of all cases in the United States as of Nov. 25.
See more here theepochtimes
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Defend The Scientific Method
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.
Tom
| #
Lies, lies and more lies.
Reply
Squidly
| #
Oh noes!! .. The common cold, again!
Reply
val
| #
All shameless propaganda … it still continues.
Reply
herb
| #
There Never Was a “New Corona Virus”, There Never Was a Pandemic
https://www.globalresearch.ca/there-never-was-a-virus-there-never-was-a-pandemic/5841105
Reply
VOWG
| #
Prove it.
Reply