City of SP records first death by Covid-19 associated with subvariant BQ.1

After the registration of two cases of Covid-19 related to subvariant BQ.1 from the Ômicron lineage of the coronavirus, the city of São Paulo confirms the first death from the new strain.

The patient, a 72-year-old woman, was hospitalized at Hospital São Paulo, between October 10 and 17, when she died. According to the Municipal Health Department, the patient had several comorbidities.

The other case of the Ômicron subvariant detected in São Paulo is a 61-year-old male. He started showing symptoms on October 7, remained in isolation and had no complications from the infection, according to the secretary.

The genetic sequencing tests that allowed the identification of the new strain were carried out by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), according to the São Paulo State Health Department.

About BQ.1

BQ.1 is a substrain of BA.5, from Omicron, which carries mutations at important points in the virus. From the week of October 3 to 9, of the sequences submitted to the international Gisaid database, BQ.1 has a prevalence of 6% and has been detected in 65 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Although there are no data on severity or immune escape from human studies, BQ.1 is showing a significant growth advantage over other circulating Omicron substrains in many locations, including Europe and the United States.

According to the WHO, it is likely that these additional mutations conferred an immune escape advantage over other circulating sublines of Omicron, which indicates the need for further assessment of a greater risk of reinfection by the disease.

To date, there are no epidemiological data that suggest an increase in the severity of the disease. The impact of the immunological changes observed on vaccine escape has not yet been established.

Based on currently available knowledge, vaccine protection against infection may be reduced, but no major impact on protection against serious illness is anticipated.