New Omicron Covid-19 Subvariants on the Rise in U.S., CDC Says [View all]

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Source: The Wall Street Journal.

HEALTH

New Omicron Covid-19 Subvariants on the Rise in U.S., CDC Says

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants together drove an estimated 11.4% of recent U.S. cases

By Jon Kamp and Brianna Abbott
https://twitter.com/jon_kamp
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https://twitter.com/Brabbott42
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Updated Oct. 14, 2022 11:33 am ET

New offshoots of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that virus experts say appear to spread easily are on the rise in the U.S. , the latest federal data show. ... Two of the Omicron subvariants, both related to the BA.5 version that drove the most recent U.S. surge, are called BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. They were estimated to represent a combined 11.4% of U.S. Covid-19 cases by mid-October, according to estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

BA.5 remains the dominant version of the virus circulating in the U.S. at about 68% of recent cases, according to CDC estimates. But the subvariant landscape has become busier as the virus that causes Covid-19 continues to mutate as it spreads. Another version virus experts are watching because of its potential to spread easily, called BA.2.72.2, represented an estimated 1.4% of cases in the latest CDC report.

The BQ subvariants’ quick rise “suggests that they either have increased transmissibility or increased immune escape compared with BA.5.,” said Dan Barouch, who directs the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. (1)

It isn’t clear that the BQ subvariants will take over in the U.S. or elsewhere, said T. Ryan Gregory, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph in Canada. It is possible that multiple variants end up displacing BA.5 without becoming individually dominant, he said.

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Write to Jon Kamp at [e-mail] and Brianna Abbott at [e-mail]

(1) https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-variants-keep-getting-more-contagious-heres-why-11660210202

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-omicron-covid-19-subvariants-on-the-rise-in-u-s-cdc-says-11665761579

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New offshoots of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that virus experts say appear to spread easily are on the rise in the U.S., with the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants estimated to represent a combined 11.4% of Covid-19 cases by mid-October

wsj.com
New Omicron Covid-19 Subvariants on the Rise in U.S., CDC Says
Two new offshoots that experts say appear to spread easily were estimated to represent 11.4% of U.S. cases by mid-October, according

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