"Hellhound" is spreading rapidly - Corona experts on alert
Created: 11/01/2022 12:37 p.m
By: Helena Gries
The new omicron subline BQ.1 is nicknamed "Hellhound".
In Europe, the Corona variant is spreading rapidly, experts are concerned.
Frankfurt – The new Omikron variant BQ.1 and its sub-line BQ.1.1 are currently on the rise.
With a view to the coming winter, the new Omikron variants are causing concern among researchers worldwide.
You assume that BQ.1.
in Europe will be responsible for the next big corona wave before the end of November.
Because of the high contagiousness, the subline BQ.1.
received the nickname "Cerberus" and is thus named after the hellhound from Greek mythology.
According to the weekly report of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of October 27, 2022, the so-called "Hellhound variant" is also increasingly being detected in Germany.
Experts are mainly due to the speed with which BQ.1.
and its descendant BQ.1.1 spread, worried.
According to forecasts by the European disease control agency ECDC, the corona variant BQ.1, including its sublines, will account for more than 50 percent of corona infections from mid-November to early December 2022.
omicron sublineage | BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 |
derived from | BA.5 and BA.1.1 |
special feature | Mutations in the spike protein |
Consequence | Faster transmission |
Corona pandemic: "Hellhound variant" BQ.1.1 is spreading rapidly
The "hound of hell" is currently determining the course of the pandemic in France and the USA.
According to media reports, BQ.1 causes almost 20 percent of corona infections there.
According to experts, the new variant has a transmission advantage of more than ten percent compared to the previously dominant omicron subvariant BA.5.
Cornelius Römer from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel announced on Twitter at the beginning of October that the number of infections with BQ.1 was doubling every week, especially in Europe and North America.
In Greek mythology, Cerberus is a mostly multi-headed hellhound who guards the entrance to the underworld.
© IMAGO
“One sees in data from America: BQ.1.
makes a lot of steam.
The variant spreads efficiently, ”said the Frankfurt virologist Martin Stürmer in an interview with
ZDFheute
.
In an interview with the broadcaster
CBS News
, the US immunologist Anthony Fauci also warned of the rapid doubling time of the new corona variant.
Corona pandemic: Do vaccinations protect against the omicron subline BQ.1?
According to experts, it is still unclear whether vaccinations or past infections protect against the new variant.
Richard Neher, head of the Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria research group at the University of Basel, refers
to studies from China and Sweden to
ZDF .
These indicated that the corona variant is probably less well recognized by human antibodies due to mutations in the spike proteins.
The virus could thus trick the immune system.
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Researchers are concerned about the new omicron subline BQ.1.1, the so-called "hellhound variant".
(Symbol photo) © Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
However, vaccinated and recovered people are protected from severe courses caused by the Omicron subline.
Despite rapid spread and a high risk of infection, some people have not yet been infected with Corona.
(hg)
