The Omikron variants BA.4 and BA.5 are more contagious than their predecessors.
Do they also trigger more severe gradients?
There are different opinions about this.
Munich – The next corona wave in Germany is picking up speed.
The fact that the number of infections is rising sharply again is due to the rapid spread of the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 of the coronavirus.
On June 21, more than 120,000 new corona cases were reported in Germany.
In its weekly report of June 16, the Robert Koch Institute put BA.5’s share of corona cases at 23.7 percent.
After 11.5 percent in the previous week, the amount has more than doubled.
The proportion of the BA.4 variant has also almost doubled within a week.
BA.5: RKI does not yet see any signs that the new omicron mutant is more pathogenic
While the RKI expects the variants to spread rapidly in the coming weeks, there is no evidence that they can cause a more severe course of the disease or even more deaths.
RKI Vice Lars Schaade made this clear again at a press conference in Berlin.
+
The omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 of the corona virus are spreading rapidly in Germany.
© IMAGO/Christian Ohde
But some scientists see it differently.
For the physician Jan Hartmann, for example, there are increasing indications "that [the] intrinsic severity of BA.4 /.5 is moving towards the delta again," he writes on Twitter.
"One reason BA.1 was less severe was most likely that the virus had changed its preferred entry route into the cell."
Coronavirus: Hamsters infected with BA.5 show more severe courses than previous Omicron variants
Because the corona virus gets back into the cells using enzymes, a stronger lung infection is very likely, Hartmann continues.
However, the scientific basis on which his statements are based is not made clear in the tweets.
According to virologists, the new corona variants are showing more symptoms similar to those of bronchitis.
A study from Japan that was published at the end of May is more tangible.
They studied courses in hamsters infected with the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
The result of the experiments: The new corona mutations are more pathogenic than BA.2, i.e. trigger more severe disease progressions.
Omicron variant BA.5 "concerns" Christian Drosten
The virologist Friedemann Weber also believes that the new variants cause more severe disease progression.
"According to previous data, these two variants, which are now becoming dominant, are unfortunately very contagious and possibly also more pathogenic," he told
FOCUS Online
.
It is possible "that the current increase will continue for a while and also lead to an increase in deaths - as can be observed in Portugal," Weber said.
The development in Portugal also "worries" the virologist Christian Drosten.
Sandra Ciesek was a little more cautious.
"I think it's possible that BA.5 could be a little more pathogenic again, but that hasn't been finally clarified," said the Frankfurt virologist in the NDR podcast.
(mt)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Christian Ohde