Mumbai on alert after 4 cases of highly-transmissible Omicron sub-variant detected
India | June 13, 2022 23:56 ISTOut of the four patients, two were girls aged 11 and two men in the 40 to 60 age group.
Out of the four patients, two were girls aged 11 and two men in the 40 to 60 age group.
The subvariants of Omicron, known as BA.4 and BA.5, were estimated to make up nearly 13 per cent of all new US COVID-19 cases in the latest week.
The sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 are behaving the same as other mutants of COVID-19 variants. We have observed that it is quite mild, said Dr. Tarun Kumar Sahni, Internal medicine and hyperbaric Oxygen therapist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital.
In an experiment children and adolescents showed some loss of antibody cross-neutralisation against all five variants, but the loss was most pronounced for Omicron, the researchers said.
The researchers obtained blood samples from 62 children and adolescents hospitalised with severe Covid, 65 children and adolescents hospitalised with MIS-C, and 50 outpatients who had recovered from mild Covid-19. All the samples were taken during 2020 and early 2021, before the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The teenager, among the family of four who was infected with the contagion did not have any travel history
BA.4 and BA.5 are sub-variants of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.
The NIH advised people to take the best preventive measure to avoid contracting the virus.
Omicron was first detected by South African scientists in November last year. It has previously been reported as more transmissible but severe than other variants.
"As compared to the previous week, 12 states have shown an increase in cases, while 19 states have shown a decline," said the bulletin said. It said that suspected recombinant sequences are under further analysis.
The study comes amid a fresh surge of infections in South Africa, where Omicron was first identified in the country along with neighbouring Botswana in November last year.
COVID-19: People with double vaccination and booster shots are also falling prey to the highly infectious variant Omicron due to various reasons. Currently Omicron BA.2 is dominant worldwide including in India.
Shanghai, a vast city of 26 million people, has reported 2,472 positive cases and 16,983 asymptomatic cases. On Sunday, the city’s COVID-19 death toll crossed 100 in the current outbreak. The city reported 51 deaths on Sunday, the highest in a single day, taking the toll to 138.
The total active cases of COVID in India have rose to 13,433 the health ministry data showed today.
The positivity rate has jumped to 5.7 per cent against 4.42 per cent on the previous day. The number of active cases has also surged to 2,641, out of which 1,578 patients are being treated in home isolation.
The total active cases of COVID in India have rose to 11,558 the health ministry data showed today.
China has always been notorious about revealing the actual data of new Covid cases, deaths to the world. Most of the people in China have been given the 'Made in China' vaccine like Sinopharm but this hasn't been that effective compared to other vaccines.
Incidentally, South Africa and Botswana were also the first to report on Omicron in November last year. South Africa was also the first country to be hit by the super mutant and vaccine evading variant of concern, before it became a global wave.
The researchers found that loss of smell was less common in participants infected during Omicron prevalence than during Delta wave. Sore throat was more common during Omicron prevalence than during Delta prevalence, they said.
In India, precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccines will be available to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centers from April 10. Data suggest that a booster dose provides good short-term vaccine effectiveness and has a safety profile similar to the second dose of the vaccine.
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