In China triggered alerts again this week due to the emergence of a new omicron strain: COVID-19 subvariant BF.7.
This new subvariant has attracted the attention of experts for its high transmission capacity and this strain is believed to be behind the latest outbreak of cases in China, where millions of new infections have been recorded which concern the international authorities.
Can a patient infected with the BF.7 variant of COVID infect 18 people?
According to the most recent studies published in China, the BF.7 subvariant of COVID, which has been scientifically named, has the ability to infect dozens of people with a single case.
This means that a person with this strain can cause between 10 and 18 new cases, exponentially increasing the number of positive cases. Indeed, its contagion rate is up to three times higher than that of omicron: from 5.08 of BA.5 to between 10 and 18.6 of BF.7.
Also, the incubation period is shorter and its ability to ire-infecting vaccinated people is higher.
What are the symptoms of subvariant BF.7?
Symptoms of an infection with subvariant BF.7 are similar to those associated with other omicron subtypes, primarily upper respiratory symptoms.
Patients may have the following symptoms:
- Temperature.
- Tos.
- Burning throat.
- Rhinorrhea.
- Fatigue.
- A minority may experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
Where was the BF.7 variant identified?
Besides China, BF.7 has been detected in other countries around the world, including:
- India
- United States of America
- United Kingdom
- Belgium
- Germany
- France
- Denmark
Despite the BF.7’s immune evasion characteristics and worrying signs of its growth in China, the variant appears to be holding fairly stable elsewhere. For example, in the US it was estimated to account for 5.7% of infections through December 10, up from 6.6% the previous week.
