India / Omicron now has three sub-variants know which is dominant

Zoom News : Jan 12, 2022, 07:20 AM
New Delhi : The Omicron form of Corona is now splitting into new forms and becoming more powerful. Three sub-variants of the Omicron (b.1.1.529) form, ba.1, ba.2 and ba.3 have evolved. Indian scientists tracking the spread of Omicron say that the Ba.1 subtype has started spreading rapidly in the country to replace the delta form. However, scientists say that there is no evidence yet to say that its counterparts spread more deadly infections than Omicron.

BA.1 spreading fast in Maharashtra

Indian scientist doing genome sequencing claims that Ba.1 subtype is spreading very fast in Maharashtra and many other states. Also this subform has begun to replace the delta form which was responsible for the second wave.

Its counterparts spreading faster than Omicron

A leading scientist associated with the Department of Indian SARS-CoV-2-Genomic Consortium has been quoted as saying that the BA.1 subtype is spreading faster than Omicron in the country. The scientist said that in all the samples that the institute is doing genome sequencing across the country, ba.1 subtypes are being found instead of Omicron. Since it is a subset of Omicron, most of its properties are the same as the original. For this reason, samples of the BA.1 subtype are also believed to be Omicron infected.

BA.2 Upup spread in Bengal

The highest number of cases of Omicron's second sub-form BA.2 are being reported in Kolkata. This has been claimed in the media reports published quoting the local official. It has been reported that 80% of the samples being sent from Kolkata for genome sequencing have another subtype of Omicron. Worryingly, this subtype cannot be detected by RTPCR assay. It is also important that out of all the patients who have been found infected with BA.2 above, none have traveled abroad. Whereas most people with BA.1 subtype have a history of foreign travel.

No evidence of third appearance

Two subtypes of the Omicron form of corona are spreading rapidly in the country, but not a single genome sequencing has detected the third subtype. In this case, epidemiologists say that viruses keep changing their form rapidly, so there is a need to increase genome sequencing.

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