A new version of the omicron is gaining a foothold in the US, CDC discovers

Another subvariable of omicrons is gaining traction in the US, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday’s report.

The secondary variable, called BA.2.12.1, is an arm of the BA.2 version of the omicron. While BA.2 remains the dominant variant in the US, BA.2.12.1 now accounts for about a fifth of new cases nationwide.

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The vast majority of cases in the US – about 75% – are still due to BA.2, the dominant variant of the country since the end of March.

But BA.2.12.1, along with another version of the omicron, known as BA.2.12, are believed to be responsible for the recent spike in Covid cases in upstate New York, State Department of Health said last week.

State health officials estimate the latest variant is 23 to 27 percent more transmissible than BA.2, which is itself also more contagious than the original omicron variant. However, there is currently no evidence that BA.2.12.1 causes more severe disease.

Federal and state officials have been closely monitoring the outbreak in New York to see if it leads to an increase in Covid hospitalizations, which tends to slow by several weeks.

John Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, in Manhattan, said scientists should expect a continued increase in the virus’ transmissibility as it continues to mutate. .

“It’s selective pressure on the virus,” he said.

But what’s more worrisome is if the variant is found to be more lethal, especially in people who have been vaccinated or protected from infection before, Moore said.

Scientists still don’t know if BA.2.12.1 is more lethal, but the omicron variant was initially found to be milder than previous variants.

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