A highly transmissible mutation of the omicron COVID variant known as BA.5 is generating concerns globally, as it continues to gain strength in several countries, causing new waves of cases and, in some cases, hospitalizations.
Rising case rates, while metrics remain uncertain due to the availability of COVID evidence at home, have sparked warnings and renewed calls to mask in some places.
So what about the new variant that makes it especially troubling and what should you watch out for?
This is what we know so far.
What you need to know about BA.5?
As of July 2, the BA.5 subvariant was responsible for nearly 54% of COVID cases in the U.S. BA.4, a similar subvariant, accounted for nearly 17% more, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disease Prevention. .
David Montefiori, a professor at the Institute for Human Vaccines at Duke University Medical Center, told NBC News that BA.4 and BA.5 are approximately three times less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies than existing COVID vaccines than the version original of the omicron variant, BA. .1. Additional research suggests that BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to vaccine antibodies than BA.2. This subvariant replaced omicron as the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US in April.
Marco Cavaleri, of the European Medicines Agency, said in an online briefing that mutations BA.4 and BA.5 are expected to be dominant across the continent, “probably replacing all other variants by the end of July “.
He said that while there is no evidence that variants make people sicker than previous strains of the virus, “increased transmission among older age groups is beginning to translate into a disease. difficult “.
What symptoms should you watch for?
The UK, where BA.4 and BA.5 infections also account for the majority of recent cases of COVID, reported nasal discharge, sore throat, headache, persistent cough and fatigue as its most common symptoms. last week.
Less than a third of those surveyed reported fevers, according to data from the Zoe COVID Symptom Study, which allows people to self-report symptoms using smartphone apps. Symptoms are consistent with those reported in the spring, when the BA.2 subvariant was dominant in the country.
An update to COVID vaccines is needed to combat the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants that are now increasing the number of cases, says Dr. Uché Blackstock, MSNBC medical assistant and head of Advancing Health Equity.
According to the University of California Davis Health, the reported symptoms of BA.5 are similar to previous variants of COVID: fever, runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue. At this point, there does not appear to be any difference in the symptoms observed in cases BA.4 or BA.5, compared with the previous omicron strains.
If you had COVID before, how protected are you from BA.5?
Francois Balloux, director of the Institute of Genetics at the University of London, said that while BA.1 and BA.2 are “quite different … BA.2, BA.4 and B.5 from a perspective of neutralizing antibodies are essentially interchangeable. ”
Therefore, people who had BA.2 infections may have some protection against the latest subvariants, he said. Although they spread faster than any other, BA.4 and BA.5 have not been found to cause more serious illnesses, according to doctors.
“There’s really no clear evidence that they’re more or less likely to make people sick and cause serious illness and death,” Montefiori said.
Dr. Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at Yale School of Public Health, said people need to understand that variants like Omicron and BA.5 are a natural part of virus progression.
“Delta would never be the last variant, and Omicron will not be the last,” he said, according to an article on the school’s website. “As long as there is an outbreak of COVID-19 somewhere in the world, there will be something new that will emerge.”
What measures can you take to protect yourself?
Grubaugh and other doctors say the best way to avoid new variants is to get vaccinated and increase injections. If more people are fully vaccinated, the chance of the virus spreading and mutating decreases, they say.
The European Union said Monday it is “critical” that the bloc’s 27-nation authorities consider giving second coronavirus booster vaccinations to people between the ages of 60 and 79 and other vulnerable people, as a new wave of pandemic sweeps the continent.
“With cases and hospitalizations increasing again as we enter the summer period, I urge everyone to get vaccinated and increase as soon as possible. There is no time to waste,” the European Health Commissioner said. and Food Security, Stella Kyriakides, in a statement.
ECDC director Andrea Ammon said the new wave is being driven by the highly transmissible BA.5 mutation of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“This indicates the start of a new wave of COVID-19 widespread throughout the European Union,” he said. “There are still too many people at risk of serious COVID-19 infection whom we need to protect as soon as possible. We need to remind people of the importance of vaccination from the first injection to the second. We need to start today “.
Meanwhile, New York City public health officials on Friday urged residents to wear masks inside again, noting how they are seeing high levels of COVID-19 infection.
To help curb the spread, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommended in a tweet that “all New Yorkers should wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94 in all public settings. interiors and around crowds outside ”.
What else should you know?
The spread of BA.5 also comes when scientists worry about a new omicron mutant, called BA2.75, which is gaining ground in India and is appearing in other countries.
Scientists say the new variant can spread quickly and prevent vaccine immunity and previous infection. It is unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than other omicron variants, including BA.5.
“It’s still too early to draw too many conclusions,” said Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “But it seems that, especially in India, transmission rates are showing this exponential increase.” It is not yet determined whether it will exceed BA.5.
However, the fact that it has already been detected in many parts of the world even with lower levels of viral surveillance “is an early indication that it is spreading,” said Shishi Luo, head of infectious diseases. Helix, a company that provides viral sequencing. information at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest mutant has been detected in several distant states of India and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there, said Lipi Thukral, a scientist on the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of the Institute of Genomics. and Integrative Biology of New Delhi. It has also been detected in about 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. Two cases were recently identified on the west coast of the U.S. and Helix identified a third case in the U.S. last week.
The concerns of experts are a large number of mutations that separate this new variant from omicron predecessors. Some of these mutations are found in areas related to the ear protein and could allow the virus to bind to cells more efficiently, Binnicker said.
Another concern is that genetic adjustments can make it easier for the virus to evade past antibodies: protective proteins made by the body in response to a vaccine or infection from an earlier variant.