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The omicron subtype BA.2, which spread rapidly in Denmark, is more contagious than the more common subtype BA.1 and is even more likely to become infected and vaccinated, a new Danish study has shown. Between December and January, a study was conducted to analyze the prevalence of coronavirus infection in more than 8,500 Danish families.
The study showed that the probability that persons infected with sub-variant BA.2 will infect others around them is 33 percent higher compared to persons infected with variant BA.1. The study also showed that the “original” BA.1 subtype causes more than 98 percent of omicron infections, but “its relative” BA.2 quickly became the dominant species in Denmark, ousting BA.1 from the throne in second of January.
“We conclude that omicron BA.2 is significantly more transmissible than BA.1 and at the same time has factors that bypass the immune system and thus further reduce the protective effect of COVID vaccination,” said the scientists conducting the study. .
The study, which has not yet passed the peer review, was conducted by scientists from the State Serum Institute (SSI), their colleagues from the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Bureau of Statistics and the Danish Technical University.
“If you have been exposed to BA.2 subtypes in your family, the probability of becoming infected with it within a week is 39 percent. Vaccines continue to play an important role. “If you were exposed to BA.1 instead of BA.2, the probability of becoming infected within a week would be 29 percent,” said study leader and lead author Frederik Plesner, adding that the findings show that BA. 2 about 33 percent more adhesive than BA.1.
Cases of the omicron BA.2 subtype have also been reported in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Norway, but to a much lesser extent than in Denmark, where they account for about 82 percent of all reported cases. The study also showed that BA.2 was relatively more successful than BA.1 when it came to infection of people vaccinated with two doses and those who received an additional booster dose.
This is evidence that this subvariant has factors that bypass the immune system even more successfully than the previous ones. Scientists reiterate that vaccines continue to play a very important role in protecting individuals. The study showed that even in this case they were fully vaccinated and especially those who received a booster dose were less susceptible to infection and virus transmission compared to those who were not vaccinated. Preliminary analysis of SSI showed that there is no difference in the risk of hospitalization of persons infected with subtype BA.2 compared to those infected with BA.1.
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