It has been a long time since the last "two yangs", and recently there have been people "three yangs". In addition, the emerging new crown variant EG.5 has been listed as a "need to watch" variant by the World Health Organization, which has attracted a lot of attention. Will the emergence of the new crown variant EG.5 cause "three yang"? What are the symptoms of infection with the EG.5 variant?
Screenshot of Weibo netizens
WHO will put the new crown variant
EG.5 is listed as "Needs Attention"
On August 10, the United Nations News Center reported that the latest preliminary risk assessment report released by the World Health Organization showed that the new crown variant EG.5 and its subspectrum series grew fastest among the new crown variants in the Americas, Europe and the western Pacific region, and were listed as "variants to watch out". However, the initial assessment shows that the risk level remains "low". ①
Screenshot of the official website of the United Nations
Globally, the EG.5 variant has a significant growth advantage over other circulating variants, with its share of infections increasing from 7.6% in the week of 19-25 June to 17.5% in the week of 17-23, according to the World Health Organization. Over the same period, the prevalence of EG.5 increased from 24.7% to 45% in mainland China, 12.8% in the United States and 19.3% in South Korea. ①
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EG.5 accounted for 17.3% of all new coronavirus cases reported in the United States in the two weeks ending Aug. 5, making it the most prevalent strain in the country.
Screenshot of CDC official website
What are the symptoms of EG.5 infection?
"Genomic sequence analysis showed that variant EG.5 is still a member of the Omicron variant family, which is not more virulent to humans, but has a stronger ability to escape immunity and infect cells, so its spread range is relatively large." Zhao Wei, director of the Biosecurity Research Center at the School of Public Health of Southern Medical University, told the People's Daily Health Client on August 10. ③
What are the symptoms of EG.5 infection?
It is also a common symptom of the new crown and may include cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body pain, loss of taste or smell again, headache. ②
K. Srinat Reddy of the Public Health Foundation of India said in an interview with the media that EG.5 often causes patients to have runny noses, sneezes and dry coughs. But he noted that because of seasonality and a lack of testing, it is difficult to distinguish EG.5 infection from the flu or the common cold. ②
Wang Gang, deputy director of the Department of Infection at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, said in an interview with Dazhong Daily on August 9 that overall, the more positive times for the new crown, the milder the symptoms. With the increasing number of new crown-positive infections, the body continues to cross-immunity, so the symptoms will become lighter and lighter. If there is a so-called "three yangs", many people may have no symptoms themselves, and sometimes they may wake up one morning, their throat is a little uncomfortable, and drinking some water may be fine. So I think that for most ordinary people with normal immunity, don't care too much about the so-called several yang problems. ④
However, older people may be the most vulnerable to new strains because their immunity from vaccines fades more quickly, and they should pay more attention to vaccination and protection. ②
Does variant EG.5 cause "three yangs"?
Zhao Wei, director of the Biosafety Research Center at the School of Public Health of Southern Medical University, told the People's Daily Health Client on August 10 that overall, the harm caused by the variant EG.5 is within a controllable range, and the mainland does not need to worry about the new round of epidemic impact that EG.5 may bring. ③
"According to the data released by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with the new crown strain found in the past three years, there is currently no evidence that the new crown variant EG.5 is more pathogenic, and the public does not need to worry too much." Hu Guoqing, dean of the Xiangya School of Public Health of Central South University, said in an interview with People's Daily Health Client on August 10 that local centers for disease control and prevention only need to work according to the requirements of the National Health Commission, and the national level needs to pay close attention to the development of the variant. ③
At present, the positive rate of the new coronavirus in the mainland is still at a low level of epidemic. Li Tong, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Infectious Diseases of Beijing You'an Hospital, told the People's Daily Health Client reporter on August 5 that the number of outpatient new crown infections has indeed increased, but overall it is still at a low level of epidemic. Although it is not ruled out that the number of infected people will continue to increase, now outpatient infections are mainly first-time infections and secondary infections, and "Sanyang" patients are very rare. ⑤
Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University also admitted "Sanyang" very rarely. Wang Xinyu, deputy director of the hospital's infectious disease department, also pointed out in an interview with Newsport on August 5 that it is now in a relatively stable or trough stage. It is true that we have encountered cases where we have been infected again after three months in the short term, but most of these patients have mild disease.
However, according to the immunity cycle, the next wave of the new crown epidemic may appear around November this autumn. ⑥
Source: Health Times