What is the difference between Variant BA.5 and Centaurus?

(CNN Spanish) – The covid-19 virus is spreading again in the world, mutating and causing new sub-variables to emerge one after another in a matter of weeks, which has the world’s health experts on guard as they are increasingly contagious and more capable. Circumvention of immunity from antibodies produced by natural infection and vaccines.

The latest version of this mutation is the omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.2.75, the latter being known as Centaurus, but what is the difference between the two?

Increasingly infectious sub variants capable of circumventing immunity

On the other hand, BA.5 is the currently dominant variant in the world and is generating a new wave of infection: in the week ending July 2, the BA.5 variant caused nearly 54% of covid-19 cases. The United States and with it BA.4 caused nearly 70% of cases in that country.

While Centaurus, discovered in India and 12 other countries, is rapidly spreading to what the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies Variable of anxiety under watchGood eight mutations New to the spike.

Although not much is known yet about BA.2.75 or Centaurus, the main difference with BA.5 can be found precisely in the number of mutations in the spike, the crown-shaped structure that covers the surface of the virus and attaches to human cells to infect it, according to Dr Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization.

The variant of omicron BA.5 is already of concern for being more contagious than the original variant of omicron, which was already Much more than delta This is in turn from the previous.

But Centaurus can be more contagious than BA. According to scientiststhe eight additional mutations seen on the rise could make “immune evasion worse than what we see now”.

For his part, Swaminathan said it is too early to tell whether BA.2.75 has additional immune evading properties or is more clinically dangerous. “We don’t know, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Although the chief scientist at the World Health Organization agrees with experts that each new variant “will be more transmissible and immunomodulatory”.

“More casualties will translate into higher hospitalizations and disease. All countries must have a data-driven plan to respond quickly to changing situations.” added in a tweet.

With information from Dr. Elmer Huerta, Elisa Mackintosh and Maggie Fox