The recently discovered BA.2.86 variant of Covid-19 could be more likely to cause infections in those already vaccinated or infected than older variants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday.
However, the CDC said it was too early to know if this will cause a more serious infection than other variants.
But because of the large number of mutations detected in this line, there were concerns about its impact on immunity against vaccines and previous infections.
“Almost the entire U.S. population has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 due to vaccination, previous infection, or both, and it is likely that these antibodies will continue to provide some protection against severe disease from this variant,” the agency said.
The announcement comes as two Americans have tested positive for BA.2.86, and cases of another new variant, EG.5 or Eris, are on the rise.
The graph above shows the percentage of positive Covid cases (brown line) and the weekly number of new Covid hospital admissions (blue bars)
Americans wear face masks as they wait in line to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Some colleges and companies are reinstating mask mandates as the number of Covid cases rises in the US
However, the CDC said that the current increase in US hospitalizations is unlikely to be caused by BA.2.86.
The most recently updated Covid vaccines target strains of the XBB Omicron variant. However, BA.286 has many more mutations, with the CDC comparing it to something similar to the delta and Omicron variants.
“The large number of mutations in this variant raises concerns about greater escape from existing vaccine immunity and previous infections compared to other recent variants,” the CDC said.
“For example, an analysis of mutations suggests that the difference may be as great or greater than that between BA.2 and XBB.1.5, which circulated nearly a year apart.”
The U.S. test positivity rate — the proportion of Pap smears that come back positive — rose from one in 15 in the week ending July 15 to one in eight on August 12, according to the latest CDC data.
It means test positivity is at its highest level in more than a year. In several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, one in six Covid smears were positive in the past week.
As ordinary Americans no longer do mass testing as they did in earlier periods of the pandemic — only 40,000 Pap smears are reported to the CDC each week — it has become more difficult to detect new outbreaks early.
But all figures indicate that the number of infections is increasing rapidly.
From July 15 to August 12, hospitalizations rose from 7,175 to 12,613, though they are still three times lower than at this time last year.
That concern, combined with a rise in positive tests in the US, has prompted an Atlanta university and Hollywood studio Lionsgate to mandate face masks again.
But while Covid numbers are rising in the US — hospitalizations are up for a fifth week in a row — they remain at near-historic lows.
Test positivity – the share of tests positive for the virus – has doubled in the US over the past month, and searches for Covid symptoms on Google have skyrocketed in recent weeks.
But doctors on the ground say that while they are seeing an increase in the number of patients with the virus, their symptoms are milder than at any time during the pandemic.
Dr. Aaron Glatt, a doctor at Mount Sinai in New York City, said the fact that two cases had been confirmed in the US indicates that “many more” are not being caught.
When asked if there were more cases of BA.2.86 in the US, he previously told DailyMail.com: ‘This is certainly very possible. It would be surprising if it didn’t spread.’
On the number of cases already in the US, he said, “It is certainly possible that there are dozens of cases, and it is certainly very possible that there are more.
The only question is how important that is. Does this variant have a survival advantage over other species?’
The ability to bypass vaccines may be that advantage.
So far, three other countries – Israel, Denmark and Britain – have detected the strain, but most countries lack the infrastructure to pick up new variants.
The new variant has yet to be detected in Japan, but official data from the country shows cases and hospitalizations are on the rise.
The latest data shows there were 22,000 Covid patients in the country’s hospitals as of August 16, which was double the 10,000 of the previous week.
However, this was still less than the 35,000 reported around the same time last year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) both said they are tracking the mutant strain.
This weekend, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb also expressed alarm, saying he was “quite concerned” about the new strain and that it may be more transmissible than other variants currently in use. be circulation.
However, doctors are still advising Americans to wait to get a booster vaccine, despite these rising cases.
Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC News, “It’s reasonable at this point, if you’re not high-risk and high-exposure, to wait a few weeks to get the updated get picture. should be OK.