According to the weekly report published by the World Health Organization (WHO/WHO), it was stated that the BA.2 variant of the Omicron mutation of the COVID-19 virus has become dominant in 10 different countries; It was noted that the rate of BA.2, which was stated to be more contagious than the BA.1 variant of Omicron, increased to 21.09 percent in Omicron cases.
Thereupon, the curiosity and concern for BA.2, a sub-variant of the Omicron variant, naturally increased. In a recent study on BA.2 in Japan, it was determined that BA.2 can cause much more serious diseases in addition to spreading faster than other mutations.
BA.2 resistant to some treatments
It has been stated that it can make drugs and prevention methods ineffective. Accordingly, in the study, it was reported that BA.2, similar to Omicron, was largely unaffected by the immunity and protection provided by vaccines.
It was noted that the variant, which has a 74 percent effect on the booster COVID-19 vaccine dose, is resistant to some treatments such as sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody used within the scope of combating Omicron.
Evaluating the research, the head of the microbiology department of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, Dr. Daniel Rhoads, on the other hand, stated that BA.2 may be a worse virus than BA.1, and said, “It can infect more and cause worse disease.”
According to Omicron, it is 30 to 50 percent more infectious
University of Tokyo researcher Kei Sato, who led the study, said in a statement that their findings suggest that BA.2 should not be considered a sub-variant of Omicron and that the variant Sato also pointed out that the reason why BA.2 was designated as “Hidden Omicron” was that BA.2 did not appear as an S-gene target error in PCR tests, just like Omicron.
The BA.2 variant, which is stated to be more mutated and has more different gene changes than Omicron compared to the virus that caused the original COVID-19, is currently detected in 74 countries and its contagious power is Omicron’s. It is known to be 30 to 50 percent higher than
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