Omicron cousin BA.2 more prevalent in Dhaka between Jan 29-Feb 18: study

The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron variant of the coronavirus was more prevalent between January 29 to February 18 in Dhaka city, finds a study.

During the period, the virology laboratory at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) sequenced 48 Covid-19 positive samples collected from Dhaka City.

Omicron variants were detected in 47 samples (98%), and the remaining one sample was that of Delta (2%), according to the study shared on icddr,b's website today.

Among the Omicrons, two lineages were identified. Most of those were the Omicron BA.2 (83%), and the remaining were the Omicron BA.1 (17%).

The BA.2 subvariant has already become the dominant form of Omicron in a few countries and is gaining ground in others.

A New York Times report said, the preliminary studies suggest that BA.2 is even more transmissible than BA.1.

Its potentially greater transmissibility has raised some concerns that BA.2 could cause a fresh spike or could lengthen the current one, but the jury is still out on whether that is likely to happen.

The subvariant, however, does not appear to be more severe.

A crucial feature of the Omicron surge has been that if you are infected with the variant, your odds of becoming severely ill, being hospitalized or dying are significantly lower than they were with Delta or earlier variants.