2023-08-31 21:50:19
The new variant of Covid-19, BA.2.86, was detected for the first time in France, announced Thursday August 31 to Agence France-Presse Santé publique France, confirming information from Parisian.
Read also: Covid-19: a new variant closely monitored by the WHO and the United States
This member of the Omicron family is being closely monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to a “largest number of mutations”making it “likely to scale more extensively and spread more easily”recalled last week the president of the committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks (Covars), Brigitte Autran.
This case of variant was detected in the Grand Est, said Public Health France, reporting to have “launched an investigation to collect epidemiological information to document this first case”.
This new variant, nicknamed “Pirola” on social networks
This variant had been detected so far in several countries, including the United States, Denmark or Israel, but not yet in France. The WHO has decided to classify this new variant, nicknamed “Pirola” on social networks, in the category of variants under surveillance, because of the very large number (more than 30) of mutations of the Spike gene that it carries.
It is the Spike protein that gives the virus its spiky appearance, and it is this that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter host cells.
Even though BA.2.86 caused a major spike in infections, “we do not expect to see comparable levels of serious illness and death compared to what we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants spread”had recently commented on François Balloux, who heads the chair of bioinformatics at University College London.
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