Fear more dangerous variant after omicron

Researchers warn that there may be new and more dangerous variants of the coronavirus after omicron, reports AP.

Each infection allows the virus to mutate, and omicron has an advantage over previous variants because it spreads faster. The variant can therefore potentially infect more people.

– There is a “mistake”

“The faster the omicron spreads, the more possibilities there are for mutations, which potentially lead to more variants,” epidemiologist for infectious diseases at the University of Boston, Leonardo Martinez, told AP.

Department director at FHI, Line Vold, explains to Dagbladet that one must expect that there will be more mutants who can create concern.

– When viruses multiply, or replicate, they do so by using the cell they have invaded to copy themselves. In the copy process, there will always, from time to time, be “mistakes”, says Vold.

This means that the new virus has changed hereditary material – that is, that there have been mutations or deletions, she explains.

– If these changes give the new virus an advantage in terms of greater spreadability compared to other viruses, then the new changed virus will eventually take over for old versions. This is pure Darwinism, explains the department director.

“More mutated version”

The omikron variant has in a short time become dominant in Norway. After the variety appeared in November, it has spread like wildfire, and it is now well established that it is at least twice as contagious as delta.

A glance at the “more mutated omicron”

FHI is now closely following a new subgroup of the omikron variant, which is apparently “on the rise” in Denmark. It’s called BA. 2 and appears to be even more contagious.

Around 100 cases of BA have been detected. 2 in Norway, according to FHI’s previous weekly report.

– We wonder if it might have an even greater contagion advantage than omikron otherwise. So we are following it closely now, to see how this degenerates, said Karoline Bjergstad, senior researcher and section leader at the Section for influenza and other airborne infections in FHI to Dagbladet last week.

There is currently nothing to suggest that BA. 2 causes more serious disease than omicron in general, she emphasizes.

– Not so sure

The experts can not predict what the new variants will look like. What they can say, however, is that it is not certain that the successors to omicron will cause milder disease, or that existing vaccines will work against them.