Ahead of the festive season, a new fast-mutating Omicron sub-variant poses a threat to the declining trajectory of fresh Covid cases in India. Identified as BF.7 (also known as BA.2.75.2), the new variant is a sub-lineage of the Covid Omicron variant BA.5.2.1.
According to reports, the first case of BF.7 has been detected by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research centre. This new Omicron variant is considered to be highly infectious and has greater transmissibility.
Origin of Omicron BF.7 variant
According to local reports, the BF.7, known as the ‘Omicron spawn’, was detected on October 4 in Yantai and Shaoguan city. The variant has also reached other countries like the United States, the UK, Australia and Belgium.
Reportedly, Omicron variants BF.7, along with another variant BA.5.1.7 are behind the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in China.
Why is Omicron BF. 7 is a matter of concern?
According to a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the BF.7 or the BA.2.75.2 variant of Omicron largely evades neutralising antibodies in the blood and is resistant to several COVID-19 antibody therapies.
The findings by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden suggest a risk of increased SARS-CoV-2 infections this winter, unless the new updated bivalent vaccines help to boost immunity in the population.
“While antibody immunity is not completely gone, BA.2.75.2 exhibited far more dramatic resistance than variants we’ve previously studied, largely driven by two mutations in the receptor binding domain of the spike protein,” said the study’s corresponding author Ben Murrell, an assistant professor at Karolinska Institutet. The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses the spike protein to enter and infect human cells.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has also released a warning against the highly infectious BF.7 and said the new subvariant is expected to become a new dominant variant.
“Judging from the characteristics of BF.7, if decisive prevention measures were not adopted in time, there is a high possibility that it could become the dominate variant in China as well,” China’s Global Times reported quoting a professor as saying to a health-based newspaper.
Most antibodies are not effective against BF.7 variant
The study shows that antibodies in random serum samples from 75 blood donors in Stockholm, Sweden were approximately only one-sixth as effective at neutralising BF.7 compared with the now-dominant variant BA.5.
Only one of the clinically available monoclonal antibody treatments that were tested, bebtelovimab, was able to potently neutralise the new variant, according to the researchers. Monoclonal antibodies are used as antiviral treatments for people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19.
BA.2.75.2 is a mutated version of another Omicron variant, BA.2.75. Since it was first discovered earlier this year, it has spread to several countries but so far represents only a minority of registered cases.
Symptoms of Omicron BF. 7 infection
Sore throat, fatigue, chest congestion, cough, cold and runny nose are the most reported symptoms of this sub-variant BF. 7.
Experts advise caution
The festive season is approaching in India, and ahead of that experts have advised precaution and Covid-appropriate behaviour.
“We now know that this is just one of a constellation of emerging variants with similar mutations that will likely come to dominate in the near future,” said Murrell adding “we should expect infections to increase this winter.”
However, the researchers noted that it is unclear whether these new variants will drive an increase in hospitalisation rates.
While current vaccines have, in general, had a protective effect against severe disease for Omicron infections, they said, there is not yet data showing the degree to which the updated COVID vaccines provide protection from these new variants. “We expect them to be beneficial, but we don’t yet know by how much,” Murrell added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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