Be wary of Omikon's "second generation variant"!There is a faster communication speed, and cases in many countries appear

Author:Look at the think tank Time:2022.07.06

Recently, a new variant of Omircor's strains numbered "BA.2.75" has attracted great attention from scientists such as Israel. This variant is evolved from the variant of Omikon strain BA.2 and is known as the "second -generation variant". It has many "unusual" mutations, or it can break through the immunity constructed by the infection of existing vaccines and strains. Barrier, fast infection, cases in India, Japan, the United States and other countries have appeared cases. Relevant experts are worried that the variant can replace existing variants such as BA.2 and BA.4 and set off a new peak of epidemic in the world.

Text 丨 Hu Dingkun Science and Technology Daily reporter

This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account "Science and Technology Daily" (ID: KJRBWX). The original first was released on July 4, 2022. The original title was "Faster spread!" Be wary of Omikon's "second generation of variants", and many cases have appeared in many countries ", which does not mean watching think tank views.

New mutation mutations cause concerns

As of July 2, researchers in various countries have discovered 85 BA.2.75 gene sequences in the international new coronary virus genome databases such as "GISAID". In the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany, etc. Because the number of new crown virus genre shared by countries is only the "corner of the iceberg" of the number of new crown cases in the world, the actual number of BA.2.75 variants is far more than 85.

Source: Visual China

Dr. Fersen, an expert in the Central Virus Laboratory of the Ministry of Health of Israel, said on the social media platform that the appearance of BA.2.75 is "worrying". 16 new mutations than BA.2, 8 of which are located in the spiny protein gene area.

The Bloom Laboratory in the United States stated on the social media platform that compared with its BA.2, the variant has two key mutations: G446S and R493Q. Among them, G446S will lead to changes in antigen characteristics and help viruses break through the immune barrier built by the existing vaccine. , R493Q improved the ability of virus to enter human cells, so BA.2.75 is worthy of further tracking.

British virus expert Tom Pikkek said that BA.2.75 has a large number of spiny protein mutations, which belongs to the "second generation of variants", and the transmission speed is fast and geographically distributed, which requires close attention.

Ba.2.75 or the first successful "second generation variant"

According to the explanation of Shey Flesen, Tom Pikkak and others, the so -called "second -generation variants" refers to the evolution from the "first generation of variants", but more mutations and differences from the first generation of variants Large variant. For Omikon strains, BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, BA.5 and other variants belong to the "first generation of variants", and BA.2.75 may become the first successful success "Second generation of variants".

Shee Flesen said that before BA.2.75, the researchers had discovered a lot of "second -generation variants" of the new crown virus - "I can find these samples every day", but the variants found before The scope is spread, and the sample volume is small, and the BA.2.75 has been spread in multiple different countries. There are dozens of samples. It seems to be successful. BA.2.75 is only the first "successful plan", representing the "next step" (that is, the "second -generation variant" of Omircor's poisonous strains), and more complicated gene changes may occur in the future.

Tom 考 Piccok said that the "second -generation variants" evolved from existing and successful variants, and these variants have characterized "annoying" antigenicity and communication characteristics, which may mean them. It is easier to get more threatening mutation combinations.

The future may set off a new epidemic

Studies have shown that the infectivity of the Omircon strain BA.2 variants is stronger than the earlier BA.1 variants that appear earlier. At the end of last year, after Omikon's strain appeared, the BA.1 variants set off a unprecedented epidemic peak worldwide in the world; in March and April this year, BA.2 gradually "replaced" BA.1 caused the United States, Europe and other countries Enter another round of epidemic; after entering June, the diffusion of BA.4 and BA.5 variants has exacerbated the epidemic situation in Europe, Israel and other places again.

Many experts believe that BA.2.75 is likely to have competitive advantages compared to other variants.

Australian data processing expert Mike Honey research believes that BA.2.75 has a very fast transmission speed. From June 15th to 30th, the proportion of the genomic samples uploaded by India has risen from less than 5%to 18%, showing the display, displaying It is replacing other variants, and its transmission speed seems to be faster than BA.2 and BA.5 variants.

La Jierajananan, associate professor of biology of New York Institute of Technology, also believes that BA.2.75 may replace BA.5, BA.4 and other spreading BA.2 variants. At present As a result, its growth advantage may be highlighted within a few weeks.

Tom Winsler, a professor of biology at the University of Belgium, also said that the growth advantage of BA.2.75 compared to BA.5 is real.Ulizhi Elin, the Academy of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, said that before we spent the BA.5 wave, we may have prepared for the next wave, BA.2.75 and BA.5 are in the spines protein geneThere are 11 mutations in the district, and the immune barrier generated by BA.5 infection is likely to be unable to protect BA.2.75, resulting in a new peak of infection.