“The two new variants also put summer at risk,” he explained Fabrizio Pregliascovirologist of the State University of Milan and medical director of the Galeazzi Hospital in Milan, a Cusano Italy Tv. Obviously it refers to variants of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5also called simply Omicron 4 and Omicron 5. For this reason it advises frail and immunocompromised people, and those who care for them, to maintain the use of the mask which is no longer foreseen except on means of transport (excluding air), in RSA and health facilities, as well as in private workplaces. In fact, even for others some recommendations always remain valid. But which ones symptoms can you give the latest variant in circulation, responsible for the resumption of infections in various countries, from South Africa first to Portugal, and now also in Italy?
According to many experts, including Pregliasco himself, the symptoms of this highly contagious variant seem to be milder, as the strain tends to replicate in the upper airways. They are therefore very similar to those of a cold with runny nose and a few days of fever. Last May Santé Publique France published a report in which he compared the symptoms observed in the first cases of Omicron, the variant BA.1 which spread at the turn of 2021 and 2022, in France with the new cases of BA.4 and BA.5 currently in circulation. It turned out that they would look almost the samebut more problems have been reported than fatigue, cough, fever And sore throat. So in reality, contrary to what is claimed, not really a very light variant. The average duration of symptoms would be about four days. All this, of course, in the vaccinated people and therefore protected from the severe forms of the disease: for those without protection, any evolution becomes more probable.
Italy is therefore going through a new phase of expansion of the pandemicas reported by the latest numbers of the monitoring of the control room of the Higher Institute of Health (Iss) and the Ministry of Health which saw an increasing incidence (310 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants) and Rt in the 0.73-1.18 fork which exceeds the epidemic threshold. According to the numbers released on June 20, over half of the new positives were recorded in one week, that is 51.8%: between Monday 13 and Sunday 19 219,234 diagnoses were made against 144,333 of the previous seven days. It will be necessary to understand how long the growth will last, if just as in the Portuguese case or if it will continue. Admissions are also on the rise: 296 more in one week overall, with a reversal after seven weeks of descent. In intensive care, where the trend had been down for as long as 10 weeks, it went from 183 to 199 people hospitalized.
Even the undersecretary for health Pierpaolo Sileri had explained a couple of days ago a Radio1 that “in the vast majority of cases the symptoms are mild”, obviously referring to Omicron 5. Then adding that in the hardest hypothesis the Covid-19 from Omicron 5 could become “the worst influence you ever had“. Omicron 5, which together with sub-variant 4 was estimated around 23% of cases days ago, will become predominant. “The infections will increase, there will be some more hospitalization but the situation is under control” in Italy “as it is in other countries too – said Sileri – in October and November, however, those who are not vaccinated risk and still risk today with this variant. The virus will perhaps circulate every year, vaccination gives protection from the severe form of the disease. However, this sub-variant has a high lethality for those who are not vaccinated ».
Omicron 5 variant, the basic precautions not to get infected in the summer
Covid, what do we know about the BA.5 variant of Sars-CoV-2 which is creating new waves in Portugal and South Africa
Source: Vanity Fair
