New Worrisome COVID Variant Being Closely Watched

Friday, September 1st, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) A new COVID-19 variant is being closely watched and has infectious disease experts concerned, weeks before a new COVID-19 vaccine is expected to become available.

According to Sarah Volpenhein with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the new variant, BA.2.86, has raised concerns among infectious disease experts because of the number of genetic mutations it has, which they worry could allow the virus to more easily evade immune responses built up through vaccines and prior infections.

BA.2.86 has more than 30 mutations compared with the strain dominant for much of this year, XBB.1.5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is about the same number of genetic mutations as there was between the original omicron variant and prior variants.

"The concern is, could that cause a very similar spike epidemiologically, with more spread, more hospitalizations, more death?" said Ajay Sethi, professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "It doesn't have to replicate what we saw the last time (with omicron), ... but it certainly is on everybody's mind."

Three cases of the variant, called BA.2.86, have been detected in the United States, including one in neighboring Michigan, according to by the global virus database GISAID. Much is still unknown about the newly identified variant.

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