SharePARIS/WASHINGTON: Scientists are keeping a close watch on a recently-discovered sub-variant of the Omicron version of the COVID-19 virus to determine how its emergence could affect future pandemic spread. The initial Omicron variant has become the dominant virus strain in recent months but British health authorities have notably identified hundreds of cases of the latest version, dubbed BA.2, while international data suggest it could spread relatively quickly.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first ten days of this month and has indicated the latest variant has been detected in some 40 other countries, accounting for a majority of most recent cases in some nations including India, Denmark and Sweden. The UKHSA indicated Friday it had designated the BA.2 sub-lineage as a variant under investigation (VUI) as cases of it were on the increase even if, in Britain, the BA.1 lineage currently remains dominant.
The authority underlined that “there is still uncertainty around the significance of the changes to the viral genome,” which required surveillance as, in parallel, cases in recent days showed a sharp rise in BA.2 incidence notably in India and Demark. “What surprised us is the rapidity with which this sub-variant, which has been circulating to a great extent in Asia, has taken hold in Denmark,” French epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told AFP.
Scientists must evaluate how the virus, which has engendered the worst global health crisis in a century, continues to evolve and mutate. Its latest incarnation does not possess the specific mutation used to track and compare BA.1 against Delta, the previously dominant strain. BA.2 has yet to be designated a variant of concern — but Flahault says countries have to be alert to the latest development as scientists ramp up surveillance.
Flahault, director of the University of Geneva’s Institute of Global Health, says the watchword is not panic but “vigilance” as “for now we have the impression (BA.2 case) severity is comparable to” classic variant Omicron cases. “But there are numerous questions on the table” and a need to monitor properties of the new variant on the block. “Very early observations from India and Denmark suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity compared to BA.1,” tweeted Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College, London, adding the latest variant should not call into question the effectiveness of existing vaccines.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said Thursday that BA.2 did not look as if it would prove a game-changer as variants appear on the scene “fairly regularly”. But he indicated he would reserve judgment. “What we know for now is that (BA.2) more or less corresponds to the characteristics that we know of Omicron” mark one.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic took a deadly toll on adults in the United States for two years while largely sparing children from adding to the dire statistics. But the rapid spread of the Omicron variant led to record pediatric infections and hospitalizations in the country, and anti-vaccination misinformation that tells parents the shots are dangerous is adding to the risk.
The chances of young people dying from COVID-19 remain low. The shots greatly reduce the odds of severe illness, and vaccinated mothers may pass protection to their babies, but vaccine hesitancy pushed online leaves both parents and children vulnerable. From worries that the shots were developed too quickly, to false claims that the jabs can impact future fertility, physician Wassim Ballan of Phoenix Children’s Hospital said combating misinformation has become part of his job.
Only 27 percent of children aged five to 11 have received a first dose of the vaccine in the United States. Hospitalizations reached a pandemic high of 914 children per day this month, up dramatically from the previous peak of 342 in Sept 2021. The first week of Jan 2022 saw Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston report 12 babies in intensive care with COVID-19.
Babies are too young for the COVID-19 shot, but Kathryn Gray, attending physician of maternal-fetal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said research increasingly shows that vaccination during pregnancy leads to antibodies safely being transferred to the baby, offering limited protection. Expectant mothers have also shown hesitancy to get the shot after they were excluded from initial clinical trials.
The initial lack of data continues to be exploited in vaccine-opposed messaging on social media. Posts on Facebook and Twitter claimed that stillbirths rose following the push to vaccinate pregnant people, even though going unprotected against the disease is the greater risk. Epidemiologists Carla DeSisto and Sascha Ellington from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said data from 1.2 million US births showed “no evidence the rate of stillbirths is higher overall during the pandemic.”
But their research did reveal the risks of contracting the virus while pregnant. “Compared to pregnant people without COVID-19, pregnant people with COVID-19 are at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including preterm birth and stillbirth,” the researchers said by email. Breastfeeding has also been the target of misinformation, with posts claiming that babies suffered rashes or even death upon nursing from a vaccinated mother.
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recommends vaccination for those who are lactating and says there is no reason to stop breastfeeding upon receiving the vaccine. Misinformation became increasingly common in private Facebook groups where parents connect to share and sell breast milk, group moderators told AFP.
Studies are finding specific benefits of milk from a vaccinated mother, according to Laura Ward, co-director of the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “Antibodies have been detected in the breast milk of vaccinated lactating women. This means that breastfed infants may have some protection against COVID-19 if their mothers receive the vaccine,” she said. Gray agreed. “Breast milk is full of antibodies based on a person’s prior exposures both to vaccines and infection. Those things don’t pose a risk to infants, they’re actually helpful at protecting them,” she said. – AFP
