After a pause, many Asian and European countries including China and South Korea are witnessing a rise in Covid-19 cases that prompte an alarm about a possible approaching fourth wave in India also.
These new cases across the world are trigger by a new variant called ‘stealth Omicron‘, which is a sub-variant of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
What is Stealth Omicron
Stealth Omicron is a sub-variant of the highly transmissible Omicron, which was behind the third wave of Covid-19 in India.
This variant is scientifically denoted as BA.2 Omicron variant.
According to preliminary calculations by Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the ‘Stealth Omicron’ could be 1.5 times more infectious than its predecessor.
Stealth Omicron is hard to detect?
As per the experts, the ‘Stealth Omicron’ variant is tougher PCR tests.
Because the new variant misses key mutations in spike protein, which are generally necessary for rapid PCR tests to identify the infection.
Stealth Omicron combines two sub-variants of the Omicron version of the Covid virus name as BA.1 and BA.2.
How is Stealth Omicron different from original Omicron variant?
As there is not much data to confirm if stealth Omicron is more severe than its father variant but WHO suggests that the lineage is more transmissible.
Many studies have proven that reinfection with BA.2(stealth Omicron) following infection with BA.1 (Omicron) provides stronger protection against reinfection with BA.2.
According to WHO, the stealth Omicron variant primarily affects the upper respiratory tract.
Same as Delta, the BA.2 variant does not affect the lungs, which is why patients infected with this lineage don’t experience shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste.
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