Despite the world trying to move quickly on vaccination as part of its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the finding of Omicron seems to have changed expectations a bit.
This not only because the south african strain has a higher level of transmission; also, because recently a subvariant of Omicron: BA.2, which has a higher level of infection.
Although so far Omicron had been considered a mild disease, recent studies indicate that its subvariant could generate more acute symptoms, even be more resistant to the vaccine.
Experts indicate that BA.2 is highly mutated compared to the original viruswhich means that today it spreads rapidly throughout the world, as it has been detected in 74 countries.
Even the subvariant exhibits genetic changes that are different from the original strain of Omicronso more studies should be done to know its scope.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), this strain is dominant in at least 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Denmark, Guam, India, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.
This thanks to the fact that it is between 30% and 50% more contagious than the original variant.becoming, in some countries, the main cause of infections, hospitalizations, even deaths.
Which populations are most at risk of being infected with the Omicron subvariant
According to the UK Health Security Agency, the new strain It has been mostly detected in people between 18 and 27 years old, which indicates that it affects a younger population.
Following this group, citizens between 30 and 42 years old had a higher risk of infection, according to the study, contrary to what was evidenced in older adults, where infections were almost nil.
However, as is already known, the virus can infect anyone in the world, even those who have been vaccinated, except that the biological reduces the risk of infection and health complications.
