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EG. 5 is spreading rapidly, but experts say it is no more harmful than previous versions.
By Dana G. Smith
Concern is growing about the EG. 5 variant of Covid-19. This week, it has become the dominant variant in the United States, and the World Health Organization classified EG. 5 as a “variant of interest,” meaning it has genetic modifications. that give it a merit and its prevalence is increasing. So how worried are people?
While severe illness in the elderly and others with underlying situations remains a concern, as does covid in those infected, experts say EG. 5 doesn’t pose a really extensive risk, or at least no more than one over the other. Main variants lately circulating.
“It’s a fear that it’s increasing, but it’s nothing like what’s already been circulating in the U. S. “”We have been in the U. S. for the last 3 or 4 months,” said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins. . Bloomberg University School of Public Health. “So I think that’s what tempers my fear about this variant right now. “
Even the WHO stated in its announcement that, based on the available evidence, “the threat to public fitness posed through EG. 5 is assessed as low globally. “
The variant was known in China in February 2023 and first detected in the United States in April. It is a descendant of the Omicron XBB. 1. 9. 2 variant and has a remarkable mutation that helps it evade antibodies developed through the immune formula in reaction to previous variants and vaccines. This merit could be the explanation for why EG. 5 has the dominant strain in the world, and it may also be one of the reasons why Covid cases have started to rise again.
This mutation “may mean that more people are vulnerable because the virus can evade that immunity a little more,” Dr. Pekosz said.
But EG. 5, also known as Eris, appears to have new functions in terms of contagiousness, symptoms, or likelihood of causing severe illness. Diagnostic tests and remedies like Paxlovid continue to be effective against you, Dr. Pekosz said. .
Dr. Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif. , said he wasn’t too concerned about the variant; However, it would feel better if new vaccine formulations, expected to be released in the fall, were already available. The updated booster evolved based on some other variant genetically similar to EG. 5. It is expected to offer greater coverage against EG. 5 than last year’s launch, which focused on the original coronavirus strain and a much older variant of Omicron that is only remotely related.
“My biggest fear is that other people are at higher risk,” Dr. Topol said. “The vaccines they’ve won are also where the virus is from lately and where it’s headed. “
Experts are more involved in other emerging variants that bring the same immune evasion mutation as EG. 5, in addition to the mutation that makes the virus more transmissible. The scientists called the mixture of these mutations “FLip” because they either oppose the positions of two amino acids, classified F and L. Although those FLip variants lately account for only a small proportion of Covid cases, they may cause a further accumulation of infections in the coming months.
“I’m very involved in the overall rate of progression of SARS-CoV-2,” said Trevor Bedford, a professor in the department of vaccines and infectious diseases at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. “No variant has had as much impact, until ahora. la overall accumulation of those mutations has a significant impact. “
Despite the increasing number of mutations, those new variants are highly unlikely to trigger a burst of what happened in the winter of 2022 with the first variant of Omicron, Dr. Topol said. “It’s nothing like what we experienced with Omicron in terms of the degree of transmission” of those variants, he said. “But there will be more reinfections. “
Dana G. Smith is a reporter for the Well section, where she has written about everything from psychedelic treatments to training trends to Covid-19. Learn more about Dana G. Smith
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