There's a New "Stealth" Omicron Variant—Should We Worry?

 

There is a new variant spreading that people are calling "stealth" Omicron. It is a variant of of the existing Omicron variant.

According to the Washington Post the variant has been detected in many countries, and this includes India, Britain, and Denmark. Three U.S. cases have been detected at a hospital in Houston.

The virus is similar to Omicron, labeled BA.1 by researchers, but contains some mutations that make it different. The reason is it called "stealth" is that, according to the UK Health Services Agency:

Omicron BA.2 lacks the genetic deletion on the spike protein which produces S-gene target failure (SGTF) in some polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which has been used as a proxy for Omicron cases previously.   

This is also known as an "s-gene dropout" and you have seen it referred to in this blog before. Variants that have this feature can be quickly identified in the course of processing PCR tests. If a variant does not have the feature it can only be typed through more time consuming genetic sequencing.

ASU has been tracking this feature in the PCR tests it performs. As of Monday, 97.7% of its positive samples have this feature, indicating that almost all cases we are seeing now in Arizona are due to Omicron BA.1.

PCR tests will still show someone infected with the BA.2 version as positive for SARS-CoV-2. It will just no longer be possible to identify that the variant is "stealth" Omicron on the spot.

That is not really important for you, the end user of the test results. Testing will still tell you whether you're infected or not—for PCR tests anyway, those rapid antigen tests were not very accurate to begin with. The main impact will be on public health people interested in tracking what variants are circulating.

There is no evidence so far that this variant-of-a-variant causes more severe disease. Some scientists worry that it might be more contagious, but there is no evidence for that either and geez you gotta wonder how much more contagious it could get.  

For right now I don't see any reason to worry about this.



Popular posts from this blog

Looks Like Immune Responses are Enduring After All

Image
 For some time, public health officials have fretted about whether immunity to COVID-19, acquired via infection or vaccination would stick.  Studies showed rapid declines in antibodies during recovery from infection and thereafter . It turns out that this concern was overblown. A study just released says bone marrow plasma cells are a persistent source of protective antibodies, and that "circulating resting memory B cells directed against the S protein were detected in the convalescent individuals."   Another study , yet to be reviewed, suggests that vaccines boost this effect. In fact, some are suggesting this situation this could actually mean  lifetime immunity .   Whether the same thing happens with vaccination is not clear. Most estimates suggest that vaccine immunity will last about a year . More pessimistic estimates putting the protection period at six months .  The possible shorter time frame, plus the appearance of the new variants, have the vaccine makers working
Read more

Another One Bites the Dust

Image
Hi all. Stepping out of retirement for a moment to say that the day has finally arrived. After four years of successfully avoiding COVID-19 infection I had a positive test yesterday. Symptoms are very mild—I've had worse colds. The provider at urgent care said almost all the cases they are seeing are the same. Mild symptoms may also be due to the fact that I had the original vaccine then the two boosters. All this time I thought I might be a NOVID —one of those people who never get the bug. But no, it must have been my assiduous mask wearing and avoidance of high-risk situations when things were bad. So here's double middle fingers to all the kooks who think masks don't work (I've not been wearing masks for months now). I don't know what variant I have but it's likely JN.1. It is said to be extraordinarily contagious and accounts for 60% of cases worldwide . It also tends to produce mild infections like the one I have.  This article claims that right now every
Read more

Anti-Mitigation Groups Have Formed a Death Cult

Image
Over the weekend anti-vax protestors showed up at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium, the largest vaccination site in the country, and staged a protest . Police said the protest was peaceful.  But the fire department closed the entrance to prevent them from moving onto the grounds or getting killed by traffic. In the end they didn't prevent anyone from getting a vaccination who had an appointment, but they did hold up the line for about an hour. In my option, these protestors are very lucky the people waiting in line didn't jump out of their cars and beat them senseless.   You have to wonder what these crackpots thought they would accomplish with their protest. People who are there already accept the truth that vaccines are protective, and don't think COVID-19 is a hoax. Did they think they would win converts? It was a fool's errand, kind of like holding an atheism demonstration outside the entrance to St. Peter's. Now it seems that the anti-vaxxers are increasingly j
Read more