The World Health Organization (WHO) assured this Wednesday that the subvariants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that dominate in China, where cases of Covid-19 have skyrocketed, are known and are already circulating in other countries. countries.
In a statement, the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus, which met on Tuesday to discuss the situation in China, states that sub-variants BA.5.2 and BF.7 of the Omicron variant of the SARS – CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, predominates in the country, jointly contributing to 97.5% of locally acquired infections.
According to the WHO, these sub-variants “are known” and “have been circulating in other countries” and, to date, “no new variants” of the coronavirus “have been reported by the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control.” .
The data communicated this Tuesday by China to the WHO advisory group and that support the infections acquired in the country are based on more than two thousand genomes (genetic information) collected and sequenced since December 1, 2022.
The WHO, which two weeks ago had renewed its call on China to share data, adds that, as of Tuesday, 773 SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences originating in the country had been sent to the Gisaid public data repository, the most of which (564) were recalled after last December 1.
Of the majority of the genetic sequences that are made public, 95 correspond to locally acquired infections in China and 187 to imported cases, without information on the rest.
The BA.5.2 and BF.7 subvariants of the Omicron variant were detected in 95% of local infections, which, according to the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus, “is in agreement with the genomes of travelers from China submitted to the Gisaid database by other countries”.
The WHO reinforces that “no new variants or mutations of known significance are observed in publicly available sequencing data.”
The World Health Organization advisory group reiterates “the importance of further analysis and sharing of genetic sequencing data” to understand the evolution of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and “the emergence of worrisome mutations or variants.”
In the statement, the WHO indicates that it will continue to “closely” monitor the situation in China and in the world and urges “all countries to remain vigilant, monitor and report the genetic sequences” of the coronavirus, as well as “carry out analysis and independent comparisons” of the different subvariants of the Omicron variant, including on “the severity of the disease they cause”.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus adds that it is evaluating the “rapid increase in proportion” of the XBB.1.5 subvariant of the Omicron variant in the United States and other countries.
Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, a type of virus that was detected three years ago in China and has spread rapidly throughout the world, assuming several variants and subvariants, some of which are more contagious. what others. . Since March 11, 2020, Covid-19 is a pandemic.
At the end of 2022, China, where the vaccination rate against Covid-19 is low and the vaccines used are less effective, experienced a skyrocketing increase in cases.
In response, some countries have begun to place restrictions on travelers from China.
Source: TSF
