New Delhi: After the first omicron variant BA.1, which is significantly more contagious than earlier coronavirus variants, a subtype, BA.2, has emerged now.
The Health Ministry on Thursday had said that the sub-variant of Omicron or BA.2 is more prevalent in the country.
At least 400 people have been infected with it during the first 10 days of January in the UK. And it has already been detected in more than 40 other countries worldwide.
The PANGO directory of coronaviruses, which is regularly updated by scientists from the universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Cambridge, lists Denmark as the most affected area, with 79% of the cases detected so far.
It is followed by Great Britain (6%), India (5%), Sweden (2%) and Singapore (2%). However, it should be noted that detection of the subtype depends on the ability of individual health systems to sequence PCR tests.
BA.2 has lots of mutations. About 20 of them in the spike protein that studs the outside of the virus are shared with the original omicron. But it also has additional genetic changes not seen in the initial version.
It’s unclear how significant those mutations are, especially in a population that has encountered the original omicron, said Dr. Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
For now, the original version, known as BA.1, and BA.2 are considered subsets of omicron. But global health leaders could give it its own Greek letter name if it is deemed a globally significant “variant of concern.”
The World Health Organization classifies omicron overall as a variant of concern, its most serious designation of a coronavirus mutant, but it doesn’t single out BA.2 with a designation of its own. Given its rise in some countries, however, the agency says investigations of BA.2 “should be prioritized.”
The UK Health Security Agency, meanwhile, has designated BA.2 a “variant under investigation,” citing the rising numbers found in the U.K. and internationally. Still, the original version of omicron remains dominant in the U.K.
