It is common for the reported variants of SARS-CoV-2 to have sublineages.
In the last few hours, the UK Health Security Agency announced that it had made the decision to designate an omicron sublineage as a variant under investigation.
The measure is taken after the report from several countries of cases with this sublineage that has displaced BA.1, although another called BA.3 has also been reported.
Sublineages are a set of mutations of the original variant that in some cases modify certain characteristics such as transmissibility or severity. In the case of the delta variant, at least 200 sublineages have also been reported, some of them even detected in Ecuador in previous months.
COVID-19: UK investigates an omicron sublineage
The B.1.1.529 variant (with its lineage BA.1) is currently the predominant variant in the samples sequenced throughout the planet.
At least 40 countries have already reported sequences with the BA.2 sublineage.
What is BA.2?
Virologist Tom Peacock, from Imperial College London, explains that this is a sister lineage to BA.1 which is likewise defined as omicron. Although they share many mutations between the two, but at the same time they have several differences.
The British agency explained that it lacks the genetic deletion in the protein spike which results in S gene target failure (SGTF) in some PCR tests.
First off – what is BA.2?
BA.2 is a sister lineage to BA.1. Currently both lineages are defined as the Omicron variant.
As @shay_fleishon shows – BA.2 shares a lot of mutations with BA.1, but it also has many differences https://t.co/MU5s54vVBZ
— Tom Peacock (@PeacockFlu) January 19, 2022
Where has it been detected?
It was indicated that the first sequences were sent from the Philippines, but it has also been reported in Denmark, the United Kingdom, India, Sweden, Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, among others.
Is it more dangerous?
This has not yet been evidenced, according to the first reports, it would have a little more transmissibility compared to BA.1, however, this does not translate into more hospitalizations.
Why do these lineages appear?
The appearance of these lineages is due to virus replication, that is, as long as there are more infections, the virus will continue to mutate and acquire various characteristics that can increase its transmissibility and even severity.
“The nature of viruses is to evolve and mutate, so hopefully we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic progresses. Our ongoing genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant,” said Dr Meera Chand, UKHSA COVID-19 Incident Manager. (I)
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