Researchers are slowly revealing clues about the strain, a descendant of omicron known as BA.2, while warily watching it become ever more prevalent.
The coronavirus mutant widely known as “stealth omicron" is now causing more than a third of new omicron cases around the world, but scientists still don't know how it could affect the future of the pandemic.known as BA.2, while warily watching it become ever more prevalent.
Early research suggests it spreads faster than the original omicron and in rare cases can sicken people even if they've already had an omicron infection. There’s mixed research on whether it causes more severe disease, but vaccines appear just as effective against it.Overall cases are falling in some places where the variant is becoming more prevalent, offering some hope that the latest troubling version of the virus won't send cases skyrocketing again as experts try to learn more.
Initial research suggests BA.2 is more transmissible than the original omicron — about 30% more contagious by one estimate. Though the severity experiments were conducted in animals, the study is"not something to discount,” said Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Research Translational Institute. “We should keep an open mind and keep assessing this.”
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