- Michelle Roberts
- Health editor, BBC News
Two new strains of the Omicron mutant are causing a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 infections around the world.
The new Omicron PA4 and PA5 strains appeared. In South Africa, they may soon become the most prevalent in Europe and the United States, according to experts’ expectations.
What are these two strains?
Since Covid was first discovered, it mutates and changes its shape, and the genetic copies that emerge from this are called mutants.
To date, the main mutations that emerged from Covid are still few. Including alpha and delta, which caused strong waves of infection.
PA.4 and PA.5 are the last to appear in the Covid-19 mutant, and are closely related to the omicron mutant; Hence the fear of experts.
The World Health Organization added PA4 and PA.5 in March to its list of Covid mutantes, and they have also been classified as of concern in Europe.
places of spread
Outbreaks of PA4 and PA5 were detected in South Africa earlier this year, and they now appear to be spreading faster than other variants.
BA.4 and BA.5 have found their way to most of Europe, and it seems that their ability to infect Covid will soon outpace that of other mutant, and indeed this is what has already happened in Portugal – where BA.5 is the most prevalent among the Portuguese.
In the United States, officials say they are seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the new PA4 and PA5 mutations.
In the United Kingdom, preliminary indications are of an expected increase in the number of cases of Covid, driven by the outbreak of the BAA.4 and BA.5 mutations.
In Australia, the Ministry of Health recorded cases of COVID-19 as a result of an outbreak of BA.4 and PA.5.
How dangerous are they?
Experts have no confirmation of how severe the damage will be to the Omicron PA4 and PA5 mutant, but they are, in any case, no more lethal than the other Covid mutant.
Most people have developed immunity to Covid, either through previous infections or by receiving the vaccine, which helps reduce the risk of infection in general.
However, the new PA4 and PA.5 mutations show the ability to spread more easily, in part due to the decline in the level of immunity in people, but in part due to the modifications that the virus has undergone in its composition.
Many countries have lifted their restrictions imposed to combat Covid, which means that people are re-mixing with each other more, thus increasing the chances of the virus spreading.
The PA.4 and PA.5 mutant show the ability to infect people even if they are returning from a recent infection with an omicron.
A new wave of the outbreak could lead to more hospitalizations, as well as more deaths.
How to prevent
Just as with other Covid mutations, the risk of infection remains higher in the case of the elderly or those with poor health conditions.
Although the currently available vaccines are not the best means, they are in any case the best that can be used in the line of defense so far.
These vaccines have helped reduce the risk of severe Covid-19 infections caused by any of its variants, including delta, alpha, beta, and gamma.
Doctors are advised to receive the recommended number of doses of the vaccine to ensure maximum protection against existing or emerging mutations.
emergencetransgenes؟
In order for viruses to reproduce, they have to make exact copies of themselves, but they don’t quite get it right. This mismatch results in a genetic change that leads to a new copy (a new mutated) of the virus.
This copying error may give an advantage to the resulting mutant, and thus be a reason for its prosperity. And the more chances the coronavirus has of replicating itself inside us, the greater the chances of new mutants emerging.