According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the subvariable BA.2 is more difficult to determine than the original strain of Omicron – National

Sub-variant B.2 of Omicron A World Health Organization scientist said Thursday that it has been found in five African countries, adding that she is concerned about the development because BA.2 samples may not detected as a form of Omicron.

Sub-variant BA.2 has begun to replace Omicron’s more popular BA.1 variant in countries such as Denmark. The data from there showed no difference in the severity of the disease, according to another WHO official.

“BA.2… has been reported in five countries, namely Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal as well as South Africa,” Dr. Nicksy Gumede-Moainsti told an online news conference.

“We are very concerned,” she said, adding that BA.2 proved difficult to determine because it was not always selected according to the S-Gene Target Failure criterion, which was used to distinguish the original Omicron. with other variations.

Gumede-Moainsti said WHO is working very closely with laboratories, asking them to forward samples that have returned without being flagged as Omicron for further analysis, in order to get a more accurate picture of the disease. spread of BA.2.

Omicron’s version of BA.1 is somewhat easier to track than previous variants. That’s because BA.1 is missing one of the three target genes used in conventional PCR tests. By default, instances of this pattern rendering are assumed to be caused by BA.1.

BA.2, sometimes referred to as the “stealth” sub-variant, does not have the same missing target gene as the original Omicron variant.

Instead, scientists are tracking it the same way they had earlier variants, including Delta, by tracking the number of viral genomes submitted to a public database like GISAID.

As with other variants, infection with BA.2 can be detected with coronavirus home test kits, although they cannot indicate which variant is responsible, experts said.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and James Macharia Chege Editing by Jason Neely and Peter Graff)

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