A pair of omicron subvariants newly circulating in the U.S. were responsible for more than 1 in 5 coronavirus infections last week, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 21% of new cases last week were attributable to BA.4 and BA.5, according to CDC data. It’s a significant increase from 13% of infections the week prior and 7% the week before that.
Experts expect the pair of highly transmissible omicron subvariants, which were first reported in South Africa, to become dominant in the U.S.
The rise of BA.4 and BA.5 could lead to an uptick in infections or, at the very least, a longer plateau for the latest coronavirus wave.
The U.S. is currently averaging more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day, which is believed to be a drastic undercount of the true number. That’s up from an average of about 30,000 new daily cases two months ago. According to the CDC, the majority of Americans should be wearing masks in public indoor spaces or considering the measure.
BA.4 and BA.5 are also increasing globally, according to the World Health Organization. It reported last week that “accumulating evidence from several countries indicates that there has been no observed increase in severity associated with BA.5 and BA.4.”
As BA.4 and BA.5 have increased, the prevalence of other omicron subvariants in the U.S. has gone down. The current dominant strain, BA.2.12.1, decreased from 66% to 64% of infections over the past two weeks. BA.2, or “stealth omicron,” decreased from about 21% to 14% of cases in the same time period.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.