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According to doctors, a new strain of COVID has led to an increase in hospital admissions and would possibly trigger a new symptom that had not been noticed in previous strains.
XBB. 1. 5, a subvariant of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, brought some South Carolinians to the hospital, some complaining of severe headaches, to Dr. Helmut Albrecht, medical director of Prisma’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Health and University of South Carolina.
The increase in hospitalizations is due to a new booster dose of the COVID vaccine designed to combat XBB. 1. 5, which Albrecht said he hopes to have available next month.
“We’re obviously seeing more cases,” Albrecht said. The vast majority suffer from mild illness, as always, but we now live in a time where 90% of the population has some form of immunity, either from having had (COVID), having obtained safe vaccines or both. But a handful of patients is now a handful more than a few months ago.
Albrecht said that although XBB. 1. 5-like symptoms come from past strains, headaches are most likely an express symptom of the subvariant.
“At least two of my patients said it was the worst headache they’d ever had,” Albrecht said. “But other than that, it can cause serious illness in addition to pneumonia, especially in non-immune patients. “
On Tuesday, Prisma Health reported a total of 50 COVID patients at its facility, 17 of whom are non-contagious.
Albrecht noted that there are likely more cases than medical professionals and hospitals realize, as most COVID testing is now done at home and the effects are never shared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Beyond “some labs in certain places” reporting cases to the CDC, Albrecht said measuring the virus in wastewater is the second-best source of data.
Wastewater tracking data maintained by CDC shows whether COVID grades at a treatment site are currently above or below old grades at the same site. From Aug. 1-15, degrees measured in Charleston County were 80 to 100 percent higher than ever. Beaufort County saw an increase from 40 to 59 percent, while Richland County saw an increase from just 0 to 19 percent.
Albrecht said prevention measures for XBB. 1. 5 are the same as for strains.
“You have to conscientiously weigh your own dangers and those of the other people you live with,” Albrecht said. “It’s not a sign of weakness to wear a mask. Most of us don’t. But I can do it. I had (COVID) once and I have 4 vaccines now. I know I may not die for that. If you know, that’s fine. If you don’t know, it’s better to protect yourself.
In addition to XBB. 1. 5, the World Health Organization and CDC are tracking a uniform strain called BA. 2. 86. The variant has 36 different mutations of XBB. 1. 5.
BA. 2. 86 “has been detected in the United States, Denmark, and Israel,” the CDC said in a post last week on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). “The CDC is collecting more data and will do more percentages on this. lineage as we are informed about it. “
With COVID cases on the rise, Albrecht pleaded with South Carolinians to release the booster next month.
“A slight increase is never big,” Albrecht said. And as a 23-year-old recently proved in one of our hospitals, you can still die. It’s the norm, but it can still happen. “
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