Reported in India on
June 2
, the sub
-variant BA.2.75
is "apparently rapidly growing", says virologist Tom Peacock, of Imperial College London, in a tweet.
There are currently no scientific publications on this newcomer of the Omicron family, but reports on the web among groups of experts, who above all reveal how this new sub-variant is a
second generation
, derived in turn from Omicron BA.2 but different from this one due to of
nine mutations
on the Spike protein, with which the virus attaches itself to human cells.
Precisely because of the latter, which probably make it more transmissible, it was preferred to distinguish it from BA, 2.
Fast diffusion
"It's worth keeping an eye on," observes Peacock.
Another probable feature is the
speed
with which it has spread over the course of a month from India to Germany and Canala to New Zealand.
However, it is too early to draw conclusions, Peakok observes, considering that
the "sequences collected so far are few".
Zollo (Ceinge), not detected in Italy, soon to make estimates on its ability to transmit
"In Italy the sub-variant BA.2.75 has not been detected at the moment, geneticist Massimo Zollo, coordinator of the Covid Task Force, told ANSA. 19 of the Ceinge. In general, in the light of the information available so far, "It is too
early to say today that the variant will become predominant
: we need data that we do not have today, nor can we imagine ".
For the geneticist" he was sure that new variants would arrive and that others could arrive, since there are no longer any restrictions. "The continuous appearance of new variants of the SarsCoV2 virus should be, according to the expert, an
alarm bell
: "it is certainly essential to continue to use the mask". The problem - he added - is to think that Covid no longer exists "
BA.2.75 has two 'sisters'
BA.2.75 already has one small family, with the 'sisters'
BA.2.74
and
BA.2.76
, identified in India.
All three would be pushing the contagion curve upwards, with a speed considered to be 18% higher than that of the variants known so far.
Of the nine
mutations
, there are two that are currently attracting the most attention: they are called
G446S
and
R493Q
and both seem to be linked to the ability to escape antibodies, both those acquired with the infection and those generated by the vaccine.
