Omicron BA.2.75 causes concern in Telangana

Hyderabad, July 08: The surge in Covid infections caused by various Omicron variants has just become more complicated, with geneticists reporting Covid infections caused by BA.2.75, a new Omicron variant, in several states, including Telangana.

Between March and June 7, Telangana’s average daily Covid infection rate ranged between 55 and 65. Since then, Covid cases have steadily increased to an average of just over 550 infections per day, with GHMC reporting over 300 infections. However, hospitalizations have been minimal, with no fatalities.

According to the most recent data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), the ongoing surge in Telangana and other states is largely due to BA. 4, BA. 5, and BA. 2.38.

However, the INSACOG has reported 77 BA.2.75 infections in the last few days from nine states: Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh.

The BA.5 variant was on its way to becoming the dominant variant and replacing other BA.2 variants. However, the new report of the BA.2.75 Omicron variant has sparked fears of a new outbreak, which could extend the ongoing chain of daily Covid infections by a few months.

The BA.2.75 variant is gaining attention because it is growing at a faster rate of 16% per day in India than other existing Omicron variants. Senior health officials here have indicated that if BA.2.75 continues to grow at its current rate, it could eventually replace BA.5.

Senior health official and vaccine expert, Dr Vipin M Vashishtha had recently described the ongoing situation on Twitter: “BA.2 and its sub-lineages are prevalent in India at present; BA.4 and BA.5 have not caught up significantly. So BA.2.75 is competing with other BA.2 sub-lineages now”.

The BA.2.75 variant, because of its multiple mutations has acquired the ability to escape immunity gained by individuals through natural infection and vaccines, which could result in multiple re-infections within a few weeks.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), due to multiple mutations, the Omicron variants are gaining the ability to evade the immunity (vaccine and natural) among individuals. As a result, it is now possible to be re-infected with an Omicron variant every two to three weeks, because even after infection, these variants are not providing immunity to the affected individuals.

“At present, there is no need to panic. Better masks, ventilation and completion of vaccination schedule for all are some of the preventive measures. This variant is not yet suggested to cause severe disease or increased mortality. The point to keep in mind is that the variant is continuously evolving and accumulating more mutations and it is too early to jump to conclusions,” senior scientist, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi, Dr Vinod Scaria, on Twitter, said.

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