Highly mutated Covid variant detected in four countries: What experts said
A new, highly mutated, lineage of the Covid-19 virus – BA.2.86 has been detected by public health authorities in some countries, sparking concerns of a renewed surge in infections. Since late July, one case each of BA.2.86 has been confirmed in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and three cases in Denmark.
Scientists are closely monitoring the emergence of this new mutation BA.2.86, primarily because it has 36 mutations that distinguish it from the currently-dominant XBB.1.5 variant.
While, at present, there is no evidence if this version spreads faster or causes more serious illness than its previous ones, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people to follow Covid protection guidelines like earlier.
EG.5 ‘Eris’ subvariant
Recently, cases linked to Covid-19 have been on the rise across the US, Europe, and Asia but these were largely attributed to the EG.5 ‘Eris’ subvariant, which is a descendant of the Omicron lineage. Omicron initially surfaced in November 2021. The variant is causing about 17 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases in the country compared to 16 per cent for the next most common lineage, XBB.1.16, according to the latest estimates from the US CDC.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has classified EG.5 as a “variant of interest”, indicating that it should be more closely watched than others.
BA.2.86 variant
Dr. S Wesley Long, the medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital, told news agency Reuters that BA.2.86 originates from an “earlier branch” of the coronavirus. As a result, it diverges from the variant that existing vaccines are designed to fight.
Experts have flagged that its many mutations make BA.2.86 “radically different in its structure” compared to earlier variants but they remain concerned to find out if BA.2.86 will turn out to be highly transmissible. It also remains to be seen whether BA.2.86 will be able to out-compete other strains of the virus or have any advantage in evading immune responses.
The impact
The Covid-related hospitalisations remain low, but are on a rise since early July, according to the CDC website. As per available data, so far the Eris variant is spreading but people have not been found to be as sick as in previous infection waves. However, a wider spread of BA.2.86 can likely cause illness and death in vulnerable populations, Dr. Eric Topol, a genomics expert and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California said.
Will vaccines protect against new variants?
Dr Long said the vaccine is still going to provide great defence against illness and death. New Covid booster shots are being designed to target the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5. Meanwhile, Moderna said preliminary trial data suggest that newer vaccines are promising against Eris and a related variant called Fornax, circulating in the US.