Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor at UKHSA said: It is clear that the increasing prevalence of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are significantly increasing the case numbers we have observed in recent weeks. It is therefore absolutely critical that we all do everything that we can to help break the chains of transmission and slow the spread of this new variant. That contrasts to Denmark, where it has become dominant. Top of the list with a prevalence of 80. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Data on this wont be available for several weeks. Everybody who is contacted or has symptoms should take a PCR test as soon as possible, even if they have received a positive COVID-19 PCR test within the last 90 days. Thats why its critical that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately.. Of symptomatic cases, loss of smell and taste was found to be more common in people who tested positive for Delta than those who had Omicron. It remains vital that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets aPCRtest immediately. We continue to monitor all recombinants closely, routinely through our world-leading genomic surveillance and sequencing capability. The B.1.1.529variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. The most affected local authorities are West Northamptonshire, where there are 49 confirmed cases and 68 SGTF, and Manchester, where there are 7 confirmed cases and 61 SGTF. This will include analysing live samples of the new variant in our laboratories to investigate properties including its response to current vaccines. The full document and underlying data is available on GOV.UK. In the age group of 20-50 years, significant severity is not expected. These are some of the symptoms that you should be looking out for: High temperature. Previous updates were published by Public Health England. Until the week beginning 23 November 2021, the weekly count of cases with SGTF was routinely less than 150, making up less than 0.1% of all cases. So, like the original omicron strain (BA.1), the primary symptoms of a mild BA.2 infection are a cough, fever, fatigue and possible loss of taste or smell. Neither have currently been designated as variants of concern. The most important thing everyone can do now is to get any vaccine dose that you are eligible for it is by far the most effective action you can take to protect yourself, your families and your communities. Of those patients admitted to hospital,17had received a booster vaccine, 74 people had 2 doses and 27 people were not vaccinated. Studies have already shown that this virus travels to different parts of the body, therefore gut-related issues are. People aged 75 and over remain at particular risk of severe disease if they are not up to date with their vaccinations. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, higher risk of becoming seriously ill from respiratory infections, including COVID-19, this data should be interpreted with caution, This assessment is based on analysis of UK data, data on Omicron cases is published regularly here, Six cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529, Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: variant risk assessments, Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants: technical briefings, Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for local government, let fresh air in if meeting others indoors, wear a face covering or a face mask, particularly if you are in crowded and enclosed spaces. Data and analysis will be released in due course through our regular surveillance reporting. As of 30 November 2021, there are 22 confirmed cases of Omicron (B.1.1.529), identified through sequencing or genotyping in England. As of 18 July 2022, there were 24 cases of BA.2.75 in the UK. Of those with Omicron, 9.5% have had COVID-19 before, which is likely to be a substantial underestimate of the proportion of reinfections, as many prior infections will have been asymptomatic and not picked up by the analysis. More recent data on Omicron cases is published regularly here. And in England, more than 1,000 confirmed cases of BA.2 have been identified, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). A recombinant variant occurs when an individual becomes infected with 2 or more variants at the same time, resulting in a mixing of their genetic material within the patients body. We have started to see cases where there are no links to travel, suggesting that we have a small amount of community transmission. This increased to 63% for BA.1 and 70% for BA.2 at 2 weeks following a third vaccine. AstraZeneca was the main vaccine used early in the programme in care homes and among those in clinical risk groups. However, confidence levels for severity indicators for children are low because further analysis is required to compare the risk of hospitalisation between Omicron and Delta, and to assess the clinical nature of illness in children. Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, said: We are continuing our efforts to understand the effect of this variant on transmissibility, severe disease, mortality, antibody response and vaccine efficacy. By the summer of 2022, the BA.5 variant was the most dominant strain in the US. ; The incubation time (time to onset of symptoms) is a bit shorter: 3 days. 8 Research published in April 2022 in The Lancet also found. One study has suggested that it may be difficult to identify this variant . They say its possible that the virus has now changed its pattern and is affecting the stomach. Taste Lost is one of the Omicron BA2 Symptoms. The COVID Omicron sub-variant BA.2, informally dubbed the "Stealth Omicron" variant, is able to reinfect people who have already had Omicron, a new study suggests. As with other kinds of variant, most will die off relatively quickly. Where individuals are identified as being a possible or probable case, their close contacts will be contacted and advised to isolate for 10 days and to take a test. Runny nose/congestion. In severe cases, the SpO2 Level may also decrease. The BA.2 variant is a sibling of the BA.1, which swept across the country over Christmas. There is insufficient data to make any assessment of protection against severe disease, or to assess the severity of illness caused by Omicron. An estimated 78.7% of confirmed cases in England are BA.5 which was first identified in April and was designated as a Variant of Concern on 18 May. The highly transmissible Omicron variant now accounts for half of the world's infections. As viruses mutate into new variants, they sometimes split or branch off into sub-lineages. Take a vaccine to protect yourself against COVID-19. Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said: The latest set of analysis is in keeping with the encouraging signs we have already seen. A BA2 variant's symptoms are similar to those of Omicron. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529 as a variant under investigation (VUI). Any variants showing evidence of spread are rapidly assessed. There is no data to suggest that BA.2 leads to more severe disease than previous Omicron sub-variants. A further case has been identified in Scotland, bringing the total to 10. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a new variant technical briefing describing ongoing work on the Omicron variant. Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infection at UKHSA, said: It is not unexpected to see new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge. BA.2 omicron symptoms According to the CDC, the symptoms of Covid-19, including BA.2, are: Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body. In India, BA.2 is rapidly replacing the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants of Covid, BA.2 was first detected in the Philippines, About half of new cases in Denmark are caused by BA.2, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant. Available data are limited at this early stage, but it remains likely that the cases identified so far are a result of a number of separate introductions into the country. The five key Omicron symptoms. Things you can choose to do are: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has elevated the classification of the COVID-19 variants Omicron BA.4 and Omicron BA.5 to variants of concern (VOCs) on the basis of observed growth. Approximately half of PCR tests in the UK are able to detect SGTF. Runny nose. There are indications of a small rise in children admitted to hospital, but these early signals need further investigations before we can draw any conclusions about whether Omicron causes more severe illness in children. The individual tested positive after travel to the UK and is linked to travel to Southern Africa. UKHSA is carrying out targeted testing at locations where the positive cases were likely to be infectious. Please also make sure to follow all Government guidance to reduce the spread of infection. But at that point the sub-variant still appeared to account for less than one in 20 cases. When the reduced risk of hospitalisation was combined with vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease, the vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation was estimated as 52% after one dose, 72% 2 to 24 weeks after dose 2, 52% 25+ weeks after dose 2 and 88% 2 weeks after a booster dose. It is also absolutely critical that we all do what we can to reduce transmission in the community so that we have time to administer as many booster doses as possible. Currently, no experimental data has been reported about BA.2 and BA.3. Protection against hospitalisation from vaccines is good against the Omicron variant. Runny nose (especially in combination with loss of smell) A runny nose is a universal sign of cold, flu and now COVID-19. Trends in SGTF over and time are however affected by the coverage of laboratories contributing to this surveillance data. Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant so please get your first, second, third or booster jab as soon as you are eligible to protect yourself, your families and your communities. It is never too late to come forward for your first dose and its vital that everyone comes forward to get boosted now as we head into the new year. Our data also show that 17.5 per cent of people aged 75 years and over have not had a vaccine within the past six months, putting them more at risk of severe disease. For example, there are still a small number of cases of other variants, such as Alpha, in the UK which would also result in S-gene dropout or there is a lower amount of virus present in the sample where S-gene dropout cannot be confirmed. Hospital cases are also rising, but vaccines are still helping to stop many severe. UKHSA has performed an initial laboratory evaluation of the current lateral flow devices (LFDs) for COVID-19 in current use in the UK. Where variant information was available, the majority of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions from 24 November 2021 to 19 January 2022 had Delta infections. It is already the dominant variant in several states and likely drove the country's recent third wave of infections. A runny nose, gastrointestinal. The individuals who have tested positive and their contacts have been asked to self-isolate. Booster doses also increase the protection against symptomatic and asymptomatic infection which will reduce transmission in the population. It is important that everyone ensures that they are up to date with vaccinations offered as they remain our best form of defence against severe illness.
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