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Joaquim Cardoso MSc.
Chief Research & Strategy Officer (CRSO),
Chief Editor and Senior Advisor
August 25, 2023
What is the message?
A new strain of COVID-19, identified as BA.2.86, has recently emerged in the U.S. and is causing concern due to its potential to evade vaccines and the protection provided by natural immunity.
- The strain possesses more than 30 mutations, which sets it apart from previous versions of the virus and puts it on par with variants that were formally named, such as Delta and Omicron.
- Health agencies, including the CDC and the World Health Organization, are closely monitoring the characteristics and behavior of this new strain.
The article highlights that BA.2.86 might have the ability to cause infections in individuals who have previously had COVID-19 or have received COVID-19 vaccines.
- The CDC is evaluating the effectiveness of an upcoming updated vaccine against this new strain, which is set to be released in September.
- Despite the emergence of BA.2.86, the article also mentions that hospitalizations due to the virus are predicted to continue increasing in the near future.
While there are similarities between the emergence of BA.2.86 and the Omicron variant, experts emphasize the need for more data to fully understand the potential threat posed by this new strain.
The article underlines the cautious approach of health authorities and researchers as they gather more information about BA.2.86’s characteristics, contagiousness, severity, and potential impact on vaccinated and previously infected individuals.
DEEP DIVE
New COVID Strain May Evade Vaccines, Alarming Health Officials
Medscape
Lisa O’Mary
August 24, 2023
A new strain of COVID-19 that was only identified a week ago in the U.S. has prompted the CDC to take the rare step of issuing a formal message that it could evade vaccines or the protection of natural immunity.
The strain is called BA.2.86 and is of particular concern because of its more than 30 mutations, which means it may behave very differently than previous versions of the virus. That number of mutations is on par with the difference between variants so serious that they were formally named, such as between Delta and Omicron, the CDC explained in the risk assessment issued Wednesday.
Worldwide, health agencies are issuing a flurry of updates on BA.2.86. The strain only recently landed on the World Health Organization’s radar when it was named a “variant under monitoring” on Aug. 17. The CDC announced the same day that it had been detected in the U.S.
Among the characteristics the CDC monitors for are how contagious a strain is, how well it responds to treatment, and how severely it affects people.
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BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC risk assessment stated.
The agency is evaluating how well the forthcoming updated vaccine, due out in September, performs against BA.2.86.
A new forecast also released this week by the CDC predicts hospitalizations due to the virus will continue their upward trend through at least mid-September. Currently, about 1,800 people are hospitalized daily with COVID-19. The new prediction shows that number has a small potential to drop as low as 1,100 daily, but it could also increase by as many as 7,500 per day. The most likely scenario lands somewhere in the middle of that range, with daily hospital admissions of between 2,000 and 4,000 people by Sept. 18.
The CDC said there is “no evidence” that BA.2.86 is causing more severe illness but said that could change as more information becomes available. Health experts typically gauge severity by the rate of COVID hospitalizations.
The journal Nature reported that many scientists see similarities between the emergence of BA.2.86 and that of Omicron, which rapidly spread around the world in late 2021.
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There’s a little bit of déjà vu all over again,” University of Michigan virologist Adam Lauring, MD, PhD, whose lab detected one of the first U.S. cases of BA.2.86, told Nature.
Lauring, as well as the CDC and the WHO, all caution that more data is needed to truly understand the threat posed by BA.2.86.
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There’s good reason to think it won’t be like the Omicron wave, but it’s early days,” Lauring said.
Sources
CDC: “Risk Assessment Summary for SARS CoV-2 Sublineage BA.2.86,” “United States COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Deaths, Emergency Department (ED) Visits, and Test Positivity by Geographic Area,” “COVID-19 Forecasts: Hospitalizations.”
World Health Organization: “Update on the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages. 22 August 2023.”
Nature: “Why a highly mutated coronavirus variant has scientists on alert.”
Originally published at https://www.medscape.com.
Names mentioned
University of Michigan virologist Adam Lauring, MD, PhD
