New omicron subvariant may bring a severe COVID-19 wave. Here are the symptoms to look out for – Deseret News

The omicron subvariant BA.5 is gaining a strong foothold in the United States, accounting for more than 50% of cases in a months time due to its high transmissibility and the ability to evade antibodies.

Together with the other new subvariant BA.4, cases and hospitalizations have surged, per The New York Times.

The seven day average of cases in the U.S. as of July 7 was 106,549, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions data tracker. The number of infections is lower than what previous COVID-19 waves have brought on, like the wave in January that skyrocketed to low seven-digit numbers, but the number of cases are still trending upward, per the report.

While the CDC said there is no evidence that the two subvariants are more severe than others, its clear that immunity through previous infection or vaccination is not as effective against them.

Many scientists agree that the pandemic is not over, including Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Floridas College of PublicHealth.

Were seeing dramatic increases in the number of cases and hospitalizations in many places throughout the United States, said Salemi, per The Guardian.

Weve seen it coming for a while Weve seen it go pretty unabated.

The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 people in the U.S. live in areas that are at high risk from COVID-19, while close to 4 in 10 are at medium risk, putting a large chunk of the population especially the older age groups more vulnerable to infection than its been since Feburary, Salemi added.

Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, pegged BA.5 as the worst version of the virus that weve seen in a Substack blog published in late June. In conversation with The New York Times, Topol addressed the present situation: Theres a wave afoot, theres no question about it.

My concern is the length of it, he added.

The World Health Organization monitors the COVID-19 variants, labeling certain mutations as variants of concern.

Omicron is deemed as a variant of concern, while some of its lineages BA.2.75, BA.13, BA.2.11, BA.2.9.1, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 are being closely watched.

The spike proteins in BA.4 and BA.5 have mutations that differentiate it from the earlier forms of the virus but the newest strain, BA.2.75, has even more mutations, meaning that it could create a wave of its own.

AsI previously reported, omicron subvariants have a shorter incubation period, which is why the symptoms may appear earlier.

The mostcommon omicron-related symptomsare:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed common symptoms for COVID-19. The symptoms are:

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New omicron subvariant may bring a severe COVID-19 wave. Here are the symptoms to look out for - Deseret News