New dangerous strain of coronavirus detected in US

The coronavirus mutant that is now dominant in the United States is a member of the omicron family, but scientists say it spreads faster than its omicron predecessors, is adept at escaping immunity and might possibly cause more serious disease, reported from Associated Press. 

Why? Because it combines properties of both omicron and delta, the nation’s dominant variant in the middle of last year.

A genetic trait that harkens back to the pandemic’s past, known as a "delta mutation,” appears to allow the virus "to escape pre-existing immunity from vaccination and prior infection, especially if you were infected in the omicron wave,” said Dr Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas. That’s because the original omicron strain that swept the world didn’t have the mutation.

The omicron "subvariant” gaining ground in the US — known as BA.2.12.1 — isn’t the only one affected by the delta mutation. The genetic change is also present in the omicron relatives that together dominate in South Africa, known as BA.4 and BA.5. Those have exactly the same mutation as delta, while BA.2.12.1 has one that’s nearly identical.





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