The Sars-Cov2 virus that causes Covid-19 maintains changes in its lineage, mainly due to Ómicron, in Jalisco the strains of this variant that predominate and are under monitoring are BA.4.6, BA.5 and B1.1.519 and others.
To date, the institution has not recorded any cases of the new omicron variants considered to be more dangerous, although confirmed cases of Covid-19 have begun to increase since the second half of November.
We recommend:
Infectologist Héctor Raúl Pérez Gómez said it is not known which subvariants are most prevalent nationwide due to lack of data update.
The concern, he commented, are the new Omicron sublines that are circulating, considered more dangerous such as BA.4, BA.5, XBB, called “hell hounds” and BQ.1,
“The latter two had such an ability to evade the immune response that was generated with the vaccine or with a previous infection that they even gave them a very intense nickname which is ‘the dogs of hell’, if they called these subvariants of Omicron who think if they can be dangerous and start circulating this end of the year.
However, in the latest genomic surveillance report of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Mexico National and state distribution of variants as of November 7, 2022 by the Federal Ministry of Health, these two are not mentioned, when in recent days the National reports indicate the presence of the XBB in some entities of the country.
While in the latest monitoring of the UNAM geographical information platform on Covid-19 and surveillance of the variants of the SARS-Cov-2 virus carried out by Conacyt, it emerges that to date there is no presence of the subvariants considered worrying.
Regarding the vaccines against Covid-19, the researcher of the National System of Researchers (SIN), level II, commented that it provides protection, however, in the face of new subvariants such as BA.4 and BA.5 there could be a vaccine evasion immune response.
“These viruses can cause disease, even if there’s a history of vaccination because they can evade the immune response, which is the most worrying part.”
Therefore, second generation vaccines should be used in Mexico.
