Experts are keenly aware of the impact on public health from the emergence of a variant of Corona 19, which cannot be ruled out as dangerous. BA.2.86
, which the World Health Organization ( WHO ) added to the list of surveillance targets on the 18th (local time), is classified as a sub-variant of BA.2 , an Omicron variant . The biggest feature of BA.2.86 , nicknamed Pirola, is that the number of spike protein mutations is 30 more than that of BA.2 . Spike protein is a weapon used when the Corona 19 virus infiltrates the human body, and the more modifications there are, the more likely it is to break through the existing immune system. Infectious disease experts are very wary of the transmission due to the fact that BA.2.86 was simultaneously detected on several continents from the beginning of this week. Christian Andersen, a researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in the US, wrote in an article posted on X (old Twitter) that “( BA.2.86 ) has all the typical characteristics of things that can be fashionable.” University College London ( UCL
) Professor François Balou, director of the Institute of Genetics, also evaluated BA.2.86 as the most prominent virus among the mutations that have emerged since the appearance of Omicron at the end of 2021.
He said in an interview with the British daily Guardian, “The most plausible scenario is that the infection remains in the body of a person with a damaged immune system for more than a year, mutates, and then spreads back to the community.”
He further speculated that ” BA.2.86 may have been circulating in an area where virus surveillance was poor and then repeatedly spread to other parts of the world.”
Morten Rasmussen, a senior researcher at the National Serum Institute (SSI) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said, “It’s rare for COVID-19 to change so drastically that it causes 30 new mutations . ” .
Jesse Bloom, a viral evolutionist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, USA, also commented, “It’s a huge evolutionary leap compared to먹튀검증 when Omicron was first created.” A total of four countries have reported BA.2.86
infections so far . The first patient was confirmed in Israel on the 13th, followed by three cases in Denmark, two in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. The UK Health and Safety Authority ( UKHSA ), which announced the first case of BA.2.86 in the country on the same day, said that “a detailed evaluation is currently underway and will provide further information when appropriate.” The patient found in the UK has no recent travel history, so it is highly likely that it is a case of community transmission. However, it seems that it will only be a few weeks later to know how far BA.2.86 will spread and how great the risk of severe disease will be. University of California, San Francisco ( UCSF)
Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious disease expert at ), predicted that a rapid increase in BA.2.86 infection cases may not occur because herd immunity has been developed through exposure to various variants .
The WHO also said, “The potential impact of the new mutation is unknown and is under careful evaluation.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) said it was ” closely monitoring BA.2.86″ but “based on the current evidence, it is not yet known whether it poses a greater public health risk than other currently circulating variants. ” .
Since Corona 19 first appeared three years ago, it has been constantly mutating and releasing various mutant viruses. WHO is currently tracking about 10 mutations, including BA.2.86 , as targets for surveillance.
Mutations designated as surveillance targets can be upgraded to ‘mutations of interest’ or ‘mutations of concern’ when it is confirmed that they have a high risk of severe disease or can penetrate the immune system provided by existing vaccines.
However, the WHO lifted the International Public Health Emergency of Emergency ( PHEIC ) for COVID-19 in May of this year and recommended countries around the world to manage Corona 19 at the level of seasonal flu. does not exist.
Earlier, in a survey conducted by the White House on Corona 19 experts in March this year, most experts estimated the possibility of a highly mutated virus appearing at 10-20% within the next two years, CNN reported .