A new version of the omicron variant is starting to spread around the world. Called BA.2 by scientists, it has earned itself a more ominous nickname: stealth omicron.
The New York Times reported on January 30 that in recent days, headlines about a “stealth” Omicron variant have conjured the notion that a villainous new form of the coronavirus is secretly creating a disastrous new wave of COVID.
Scientists, however, say this scenario is highly unlikely. But the new variant, which is one of three branches of the Omicron viral family, could drag out the Omicron surge in much of the world.
So far, BA.2 reportedly doesn’t appear to cause more severe disease, and vaccines are just as effective against it as they are against other forms of Omicron. But it does show signs of spreading more readily, according to The New York Times.
In November 2021, researchers in South Africa first raised the alarm about Omicron, which carried 53 mutations setting it apart from the initial coronavirus strain isolated in Wuhan. Some of those mutations enabled it to escape the antibodies produced by vaccines or previous infections. Other mutations appear to have made it concentrate in the upper airway, rather than in the lungs. Since then, Omicron’s genetic changes have reportedly driven it to dominance across the world.
Within weeks of Omicron’s emergence, however, researchers in South Africa started finding a few puzzling, Omicron-like variants. The viruses shared some of Omicron’s distinctive mutations, but lacked others. They also carried some unique mutations of their own.
Stealth omicron also has mutations that could make it more contagious. Those two traits combined – being more contagious and harder to detect – could make it spread even faster than the omicron we’ve seen practically take over the world this winter, NEWSNATION reported on January 30.
What remains to be seen is if any of stealth omicron’s mutations make it cause more severe illness than the original version of omicron, which largely showed mild symptoms among the vaccinated and boosted population.
