The Omicron sub-variant is still poorly understood by scientists. Its impact on the Covid-19 epidemic is uncertain.
- Between October 10 and 16, the incidence rate was 577 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
- Emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths were up from the previous week.
- The subvariant is BA.5 accounted for 93% of positive cases.
The Covid-19 epidemic began almost three years ago. Since the identification of the first cases, the virus has mutated many times, giving rise to new variants and sub-variants. The latest is the BQ.1.1. sub-variant, which first appeared in France in September. Since then, its progression has accelerated in France: it represents 16% of positive cases, according to the latest point of Public Health Francecompared to 7% two weeks ago.
BA.5 sub-lineage: what is the BQ.1.1 sub-variant?
This subvariant of Omicron is a sublineage of BQ.1. At the beginning of October, Santé Publique France quoted him in a report : “BQ.1 (and its sublineage BQ.1.1), a recently defined sublineage of BA.5, circulates widely in Nigeria and appears to be increasing in some European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, -Netherlands, UK).”
Experts felt that it was too early to assess its impact and to determine its specific characteristics. Almost a month later, health professionals are still in the dark. The Parisian recently published an article detailing the first report of Covars, the committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks, which replaced the Scientific Council. Experts explain that the “immune escape level of this sublineage is “uncertain”. But it could be”important“, even in people who have already been infected with other variants. In any case, it should gradually impose itself on the territory. To the site Actu.frAntoine Flahault, epidemiologist and director of the Geneva Institute of Global Health, explains: “There is quite possible that BQ.1.1. has already become dominant (= majority) in France. It is very probably already in Île-de-France and should become so throughout the national territory, at least before the end of October. It’s a safe bet that it will be dominant throughout Europe before the end of the year..”
New symptoms linked to the BQ.1.1 subvariant?
Some health professionals claim that this sub-variant could be the cause of new symptoms: digestive disorders. If this claim were confirmed, by scientific evidence, it could have an impact on the epidemic. Scientists fear this will lead to confusion in symptoms, between the coronavirus and other viruses such as gastroenteritis, and thus lower testing.
Where is the Covid-19 epidemic in France?
For now, the eighth wave of Covid-19 is currently affecting France, and we would be close to the epidemic peak. In his last epidemiological pointPublic Health France specifies that the incidence rate has stabilized, after five weeks of increase.We must still expect, with a lag of two to three weeks, an increase in hospitalizations”specifies the Covars at Parisian. To date, the coronavirus has caused 147,568 deaths in the country.
