Variant Centaurus What it is: Chrysanthemum’s Description – Chronicle

Padua, 15 July 2022 – Omicron BA.2.75 or Centaurus, what is it? This is a new sub-variant of Omicron, which WHO has already added to those to be monitored. From India (identified in early May), it is feared that the case will push the curve back up, just as Britain is approaching a plateau. In addition to the United Kingdom, it has also been registered in the United States, Australia, Germany and Canada, which worries virologists because it appears to be more transmissible than Omicron 5. There are currently 290 cases worldwide. The variant Omicron sub- BA.2.75 has been renamed as a constellation name on social media Centaurus, which refers to a centaur, a mythical creature half man and half horse. Because the new subvariant has a larger number of mutations, it makes a “compound”. Andrea Grisanti, director of the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Padua, explains why the Covid epidemic is growing strongly in Italy as well. “This is a variant of concern because the region recognized by neutralizing antibodies is modified. So in fact this variant may be completely invisible to vaccines.” But how widespread can it be? How contagious is it? “There are somewhat conflicting data – reports Grisanti – because the secondary infection index”, which refers to the share of secondary cases derived from the contact of the primary case, “was low, at least from the first measures. I must therefore see if this variant has the same transmission capacity as the latter that we have now Say it’s a bit premature. So it’s not certain that Centaurs will be the next dominant variant after Omicron 5. “But of course the concern of surveillance systems is directly linked to these features, to the characteristics of mutations”, – argues Grisanti – who …