Once again it’s time for alerts regarding covid-19.
and new Omicron outbreak, BA.2.86 also called “Pearl”, appeared in Israel, the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom after it was first recorded in Denmark in late July. At first, Pirola caused concern because it was found in four countries at the same time, and because, having greatly reduced our surveillance systems for the virus, we do not know how long it goes around. In addition, the large number of mutations it presents is reason enough to scare us: BA.2.86 has more than 30 new mutations compared to the latest dominant variant, XBB.1.5.
“The only time we saw such a large genetic change was the first transfer from Delta to Omicron, which caused the highest number of hospitalizations and deaths of all the waves of the pandemic ,” said Dan Barouch, head of the vaccines research division. at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (USA). As a result, scientists around the world are scrambling to determine if BA.2.86 is something to worry about.
What is “Pirola”, the new variant of covid-19
Early studies suggested that, despite all its mutations, Pirola does not fight immune barriers better than previous variants. The protection offered by vaccines should be sufficient, and if you have been naturally exposed to the XBB variant, you may already have more defenses to fight this new strain.
Why is Pirola not so good at avoiding immunity, despite suffering from many mutations? It likely evolved from BA.2, an older, better-known form of Sars-CoV-2 that no longer circulates, meaning Pirola is less resistant to neutralization than other more stable variants, such as XBB.1.5. But the variant may continue to evolve and change, Barouch warns, so staying alert will be critical.
Determining whether it will spike and become the dominant form of the virus in circulation will have to be “wait and see,” Barouch added. “However, it does not appear to be spreading at the same rate as, for example, the original BA.1 or BA.5,” he emphasized, referring to two of the Omicron variants that spread quickly.
Anna Bershteyn, associate professor and co-leader of the Covid modeling team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, agreed; So far, everything is reassuring. “As far as we know, it’s not going to be one of those big waves of hospitalizations and deaths, of the kind that overwhelmed the health system in previous episodes of the epidemic.”
In the United Kingdom, a nursing home in the east of England was invaded by the variant: 33 residents contracted Covid and 28 were infected with BA.2.86, suggesting that spread quickly. But only two hospitalizations were reported, suggesting that Pirola does not cause more severe disease than existing variants.
