Professor Said Moutawakil, member of The Moroccan scientific committee on COVID-19, issued a warning about the emergence of a new sub-mutant of Covid-19 that Morocco has been experiencing for days, citing the lack of information on its prevalence rate.
The professor emphasized that this sub-mutant “BQ 1.1” is similar to its predecessors and exhibits nearly the same symptoms, with the possible exception that its carrier may experience vomiting and diarrhea as well as the potential for the development of skin spots in some situations.
BQ.1 is a sub-lineage of BA.5, which carries spike mutations in some key antigenic sites, including K444T and N460K. In addition to these mutations, the sub-lineage BQ.1.1 carries an additional spike mutation in a key antigenic site, explained World Health Organization (WHO).
BQ.1 has a prevalence of 6% and has been discovered in 65 countries as of epidemiological week 40 (3–9 October), according to the data sent to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID).
Despite the lack of information on the severity of immune escape from studies in people, BQ.1 is outpacing other circulating Omicron sub-lineages in terms of growth in several contexts, including Europe and the US, and as a result, has to be closely watched.
Because it is likely that these extra mutations have given the circulating Omicron sub-lineages an immunological escape advantage said WHO, an increased risk of re-infection is a hypothesis that warrants more research.
Experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control predicted that by mid-November to the beginning of December 2022, more than 50% of COVID infections will be due to BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants.
As read on The Conversation media, considering that it only took 19 days for BQ.1.1 to multiply eight-fold from five to 200 sequences, it looks to be a highly transmissible virus.
A study by Biorxiv, a medical articles platform, stated that it is possible that vaccination and immunity brought on by infection with earlier omicron sub-lineages won’t offer complete protection against BQ.1.1 infection. But because the medical piece is still a preprint, it has yet to undergo peer review.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.