Non-stop Covid transmissions fuelling new variants, say experts

Hyderabad: Unabated transmission of Omicron variants in Telangana and elsewhere in the country are contributing in a big way towards formation of new sub-variants. As a result, there is always a possibility that any of the new variant could turn-out to be severe, just like the Delta variant, geneticists and public health officials, said. Thanks […]

Hyderabad: Unabated transmission of Omicron variants in Telangana and elsewhere in the country are contributing in a big way towards formation of new sub-variants. As a result, there is always a possibility that any of the new variant could turn-out to be severe, just like the Delta variant, geneticists and public health officials, said.

Thanks to the non-stop transmission of Covid variants, the new sub-variant of Omicron BA 2.75 is replacing the BA.4 and BA.5 variants at a very quick pace. Within a matter of just few weeks, the BA 2.75 Omicron variant has become the dominant circulating variant in several States including Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi etc.

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As a result of quick and non-stop transmission, the BA 2.75 has now picked-up a Delta signature (BA 2.75 with L452R Delta mutation), which has the potential to start impacting the lungs of Covid positive patients. At present, the number of Covid positive cases of BA 2.75 with Delta mutation is just below 20 and its progression and possible impact needs to tracked, geneticists said.

“Yes. Unabated continued transmission of Omicron sub-variants is co-attributing to the rise of many more sub-variants. Only sustained genomic and clinical surveillance can provide insights into the growth advantage and clinical outcomes,” senior scientist at Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi, Dr Vinod Scaria on Twitter, said.

The growth of BA 2.75 variant of Omicron is very fast. In July, the dominating variant in Telangana was BA.5, BA. 2.38 and BA.4. However, just in a week in August, BA 2.75 has become the dominating sub-variant.

“Each infection allows the virus to further evolve, leading to new lineages with immune escape capable of fresh infections. This cycle seems innocuous but is not. There is always a possibility that the new variant may be more severe. Contrary to popular thought, new variants are not always milder. It is the growing immunity that makes it look that way. We must continue to maintain careful surveillance,” Dr. Anurag Agarwal, former Director of IGIB New Delhi, who is at present Dean, Biosciences and Health Research at Ashoka University, said.