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In mid-August, the World Health Organisation raised the alarm about a new coronavirus (Omicron) variant that has now been detected in no fewer than nine countries.
Researchers in various countries have been working assiduously to determine whether the highly mutated variant, which has spread across three continents, will be a global concern or if it will eventually die out.
The coronavirus variant, called BA.2.86, aka Pirola, has been detected in samples from people in the United Kingdom, Israel, Denmark, Canada, South Africa, Thailand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States.
As of August 30, the virus strain has been identified in at least four states in the US: New York, Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan.
According to the New York Times, the Pirola variant is a highly mutated variant of the Omicron coronavirus, but now has multiple genetic differences from previous versions of SARS-CoV-2. Its high number of mutations may imply that this new variant can evade the body’s immune responses, which are triggered either by infection or vaccination.
All viruses, including the one responsible for COVID-19, change over time. These viruses with changes are called variants. According to virologists, the changes can affect how contagious a virus is, how well it responds to treatment, and how severely it affects people.
However, in its preliminary report on the BA.2.86 variant, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stated that there is currently no evidence that Pirola causes more severe illness, death, or hospitalisation.
An infectious disease expert, Dr Scott Roberts, quoted in a Yale Medicine bulletin published on Thursday, said, “When Omicron hit in the winter of 2021, there was a huge rise in COVID-19 cases because it was different from the Delta variant, and it evaded immunity from both natural infection and vaccination.
“There is some reason to worry, in that this variant has more than 30 mutations to its spike protein. Such a high number of mutation is notable. When we went from XBB.1.5 to EG.5, that was maybe one or two mutations. But these massive shifts, which we also saw from Delta to Omicron, are worrisome.”
In a statement in August, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention noted that it was monitoring the new sub-variants (descendants) of the Omicron variant, named EG.5 and BA.2.86, adding that the Pirola (BA.2.86) had not yet been detected in Nigeria.
The statement partly read, “The WHO has classified EG.5 as a ‘variant of interest’ (VOI) and conducted a risk assessment, which found that this new variant poses a low risk at the global level.
“In addition, EG.5 has not been associated with any change in symptoms/clinical manifestation and has not produced an increase in severity of illness and/or hospitalisation or difference in death rates in reporting countries. EG.5 causes symptoms like those seen with other COVID-19 variants, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat.
“Since there are few cases identified so far, there is not enough information to make conclusive assessments of virulence, transmission, and severity. However, we do not expect it to be much different from other omicron descendants currently circulating. Although the ancestor, BA.2 has been previously found in Nigeria, no BA.2.86 variant has been identified in Nigeria.”
Scientists have pointed out that BA.2.86’s changes are in regions of its spike protein which are targeted by the body’s potent infection-blocking or neutralising antibodies. For this reason, there is a likely chance that the new variant will be able to escape some of the immune triggered by previous infections and vaccine boosters.
Speaking with the Sunday PUNCH, a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Daniel Oluwayelu, explained that just as every organism has some proteins that are used to recognise it, viruses also have different proteins specific for them.
“These proteins ensure the survival of the virus. In this case, the spike protein is present on the virus’ surface and it is used by the virus to attach itself to the host’s cell; it needs to attach itself first before it infects the host. The protein spike also allows the virus to quickly spread through the population from one individual to another. So, it’s very crucial to the survival of the virus and that is where these changes that we scientifically call mutations really take place.
“When the mutation takes place, the virus changes its protein and all the antibodies in our body due to vaccination cannot stop it. The EG.5 strain which emerged from late July to early August had one or two mutations from the one that was its predecessor. But Pirola, we are told, has about 30 mutations and that is really huge.
“One or two mutations alone can cause a big problem. But with 30, you can imagine the possibilities or dangers that lie ahead. But I think studies are still ongoing to really know what the implications of these mutations are. We are still not sure if it’s going to increase or enhance the ability of this virus to infect and spread through a population.”
On his part, a biomedical scientist, Fortune Nwachukwu, told Sunday PUNCH that there were still some salient facts that were unknown about the Pirola variant and there should be no panic about it.
“The truth is that coronavirus is here to stay and it will continue to mutate and produce variant strains. However, we must also bear in mind that even COVID-19 was severe only in those with underlying chronic illnesses and those whose immune systems were suppressed for one reason or the other.
“What I will advise is that those who have not been vaccinated should take their vaccines and those who have should also take their vaccine boosters. The fact is, it is too soon to know how transmissible this variant is so scientists can’t say with certainty whether it would also cause severe illnesses in immuno-compromised people as previous variants did,” he stated.
The NCDC, in its statement, assured Nigerians that its COVID-19 Technical Working Group was monitoring the local, regional, continental, and global epidemiology of coronavirus and its emerging variants.
It further stated that it would implement “an enhanced COVID-19 testing exercise in four states to obtain complementary and more detailed information about circulating variants in the country.”
In the US, a wastewater sample has been collected as part of routine monitoring in the National Wastewater Surveillance System, which indicated the presence of the BA.2.86 variant. Scientists are investigating this sample and will continue to closely monitor wastewater for further or more widespread evidence of the variant.
According to a report published in Scientific American, laboratories worldwide have also begun to scour patient samples as well as wastewater in order to get a sense of how widespread BA.2.86 is.
In Denmark and the United Kingdom, virology labs say they are trying to isolate BA.2.86 from patient samples. Such studies and safe models of SARS-CoV-2 called “pseudoviruses” will help researchers to gauge the variant’s ability to evade neutralising antibodies triggered by prior infections and vaccines.
But over the last few days, several laboratory studies have led to sighs of relief. Scientists are noting that the chance that this variant will lead to a massive, emergency room-flooding COVID surge is very slim.
On September 1, according to a report published by Vox, a team of scientists in Beijing posted data showing Pirola is less good at invading and infecting cells than other currently circulating omicron variants.
Also, two different labs (one in the US and one in Sweden) also recently shared data showing that neutralising antibodies trained on older COVID-19 variants were still effective in taking Pirola down.
Meanwhile, experts in Nigeria have called for the adoption of health safety measures. Oluwayelu, in his interview with our correspondent, also urged improved scientific surveillance for travellers.
He said, “We know that our people still travel, especially to the US and they come back and return, so we have to be alert. It would be appropriate for our health regulatory agencies to put in place measures so as to control and prevent the entry and spread of this particular strain because up until now, I don’t think there is any new information about its presence in Nigeria.
“Just as we did in previous times, the NCDC and the Ministry of Health should really come up to put in place measures to forestall the entry of this new variant. The possibility of the infectiousness of this new strain is there.”
A public health expert, Dr Omojeme Adomi, in a chat with our correspondent, lamented the low awareness of the new coronavirus strain and the lack of public safety measures.
She said, “The worrying part is that the government hasn’t said anything about it so people don’t know about it, and people that do are not taking it seriously. We have to go back to social distancing and the use of face masks, especially for people with underlying health issues such as asthma and diabetes.
“The government also has to step up the facilities that are meant to handle COVID cases such as the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos State, and restart public sensitisation programmes as soon as possible. The people who haven’t taken the vaccine or who haven’t completed their course of vaccines should go and do so.”
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