The faster spread of the Omicron BA.4, BA.5, making the world nervous.
Israel, the world's highest per capita vaccination against COVID-19, is sounding the alarm that a new wave of infections may already be coming. Data disclosed by the Israeli Ministry of Health showed that there were 13,929 new COVID-19 cases on June 20, a 596% surge compared to late May.
The latest article published in the British Medical Journal warns that the Opmikharonga variant is driving a new wave of infections in the UK; The Asian region is also facing greater risks, Singapore and Indonesia have said that this summer or autumn will face a new wave of BA.4, BA.5 epidemic; according to media reports, the positive test rate in Mumbai, India, is as high as 13.88%, close to three times the Indian average.
Recently, three top-notch authoritative journals have successively published consistent serological studies on Omikejong BA.4 and BA.5, which unanimously confirmed that the Subtypes of Omikejong BA.4 and BA.5 showed stronger immune escape ability, and there was a significant neutralization and escape phenomenon in the plasma of Omikejong BA.1 infected people.
At the same time as the epidemic is disrupted, the United Kingdom is staging the largest wave of railway strikes in 30 years, which may add another haze to the British economic recovery. On June 21, overseas networks quoted the BBC as saying that more than 40,000 railway employees of 14 railway operators in the United Kingdom will hold a three-day strike due to the failure of negotiations between the British government and the railway union on salary increases.
Global tensions
The more contagious variants of the new coronavirus, Semikjong subtypes BA.4 and BA.5, have further complicated the global epidemic situation.
Israel, which has the highest number of COVID-19 vaccines per capita in the world, is once again facing the impact of a new round of the epidemic, and the Omikerong variant BA.5 has become the most mainstream strain.
According to data disclosed by the Israeli Ministry of Health, there were 13,929 new cases of new coronavirus on June 20, and the positive detection rate reached 27.9%, while in late May this year, the average daily increase in Israel fell to less than 2,000.
Salman Zarka, Israel's top official on covid-19 response, said nearly 50 percent of COVID-19 infections carry the Omilon BA.5 variant and that hospitalizations are increasing. This means that the Omikejong mutant BA.5 has spread in full local areas.
In response, Nahman Ashe, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health, warned that a new wave of infections in Israel may have come, and in the early stages of this wave, the Ministry of Health has not yet planned to impose extensive restrictions on large gatherings, but the Ministry of Health is considering re-implementing the wearing of masks in closed public spaces.
With BA.5 gaining an overwhelming dominance in Israel, Israeli experts say the possibility of including a fifth dose of vaccine for the elderly and immunocompromised should be considered.
At the same time, the epidemic situation in the UK is not optimistic. On June 20, local time, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published an article titled "The Semi-Kejungya Variant Is Driving a New Wave of Infections in the UK". According to the New Crown Infection Survey, 1 in every 50 English people is expected to be positive for the week of June 11, and roughly one positive case in more infected Scotland can be tested for about one in 30 people.
Separately, the latest data disclosed by the Uk's National Health Service (NHS) shows that as of June 16, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in the Uk's healthcare system has surged by 31% in one week. The UK's COVID-19 Actuarial Response Team warned that the current growth rate of COVID-19 admissions is actually faster than it was during the BA.2 outbreak in March, which is something to worry about.
In Portugal, BA.5 became the main endemic strain in the country as early as May and now accounts for 90% of the country's new cases. The European CdC reports increases in BA.4 and BA.5 infections in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Ireland.
In addition to Europe and the United States, the Asian region is also facing greater risks. On June 20, Singapore's health minister, Wang Yikang, clearly warned that the country is likely to start facing a new wave of BA.4 and BA.5 outbreaks in July-August this year; Indonesian Health Minister Sadikin also warned that BA.4 and BA.5 will trigger a new wave of epidemics this summer.
According to media reports, the test positivity rate in Mumbai, India, is as high as 13.88%, close to the Indian average, and the number of hospitalized cases reported in the past 10 days has increased significantly by 187%.
In addition, Taiwan is also facing the risk of importing BA.4 and BA.5 from Omicron. On June 21, according to Taiwan's "Zhongshi News Network", the border of Taiwan once again intercepted 17 cases of overseas imports of the Aomi Kerong variant BA.4 and BA.5, with the source country mainly in the United States, and as of now, the cumulative number of cases of interception of BA.4 and BA.5 at the border of Taiwan has reached 65.
Conclusions of the blockbuster study
Omikron BA.4 and BA.5 will replace BA.2.12.1 as the most mainstream strains in the world, and are gradually becoming the consensus.
Recently, three top-notch authoritative journals have successively published consistent serological studies on Omikejong BA.4 and BA.5, revealing the idea of epidemic prevention in response to this new strain.
Among them, Cell published an article from the Oxford University Screenton Group, comprehensively reported the serological characteristics of BA.4 and BA.5, and concluded that BA.4 and BA.5 had more significant immune escape from the serum of 3 doses of vaccinators, and the neutralization activity was only 1/3 of BA.1; BA.4 and BA.5 added two mutations, L452R and F486V, which is one of the main reasons for more significant immune escape.
On June 15, 2022, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published the serological signatures of BA.4/5 by the team of virologist Liu Shanxuan of Ohio State University in the United States, and its main findings were that 2 doses of vaccination had a neutralizing antibody titer of BA.1 of 52, 39 for BA.2, and only 37% for BA.4/5; 3 doses of vaccination was 976 for BA.1, 933 for BA.2 and 647 for BA.4/5.
On June 17, 2022, nature magazine published a study by Xie Xiaoliang's team at Peking University, and the results showed that the new subtypes of Aomi Kerong BA.4 and BA.5 showed stronger immune escape ability, and there was a significant neutralization and escape phenomenon in plasma after the recovery of Omicron BA.1 infected people.
The above three top articles unanimously confirmed that the Aomi Kerong BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes showed stronger immune escape ability.
In addition, for the pathogenicity of BA.4 and BA.5, a preprinted study published in BioRxiv by researchers from Kumamoto University, the University of Tokyo, the Tokyo Institute of Public Health and other institutions at the end of May showed that in animal in vivo experiments, hamsters infected with BA.4 and BA.5 had a greater viral load in their lungs.
The researchers believe that this result shows that for hamsters, after infection with BA.4 and BA.5, the virus spreads in the lungs more than other Omilon variants. The study has not been peer-reviewed.
Based on the current research conclusions, analysts believe that the main strategies for preventing the Omikejong BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes are to continue to wear masks and reduce unnecessary indoor gatherings; Physical isolation from viruses, still an effective method; 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine remain the most effective way to prevent severe illness; Use the rapid antigen detection kit as soon as the symptoms appear, and if necessary, go to the testing point for nucleic acid testing.