Enlarging an image
News summary on the way home from work, Subsletter Evening.
Corona has entered a phase of re-spreading, but the virus that leads to re-spread has changed.
BA.5, which can be a descendant of the once-popular Omicron mutation, is spreading enough to soon become the dominant species, and another mutation BA.2.75 has occurred in foreign countries.
The nature of these mutations is that 1) the propagation power is getting faster, and 2) the immune evasion ability is getting stronger.
Some experts explain that these mutations are "the most contagious among viruses that have invaded mankind."
BA.5 with strong radio wave power... “It will soon become dominant.”
It is the Omicron sub-mutation 'BA.5' that is leading the global corona outbreak, and it is rapidly spreading in Korea as well.
The detection rate was 35.0% (domestic 23.7%, overseas 70.0%), up 6.8%p from the previous week (28.2%).
Enlarging an image
Looking at the table above, it can be seen that the domestic detection rate of BA.5 has been stagnant, but the detection rate of cases imported from abroad has risen from 49.2% to 70.0%.
The quarantine authorities will have to watch the trend for the time being, but they believe that BA.5 will soon become the dominant species and lead the corona virus again.
Enlarging an image
Even in the United States, after BA.5 has already established itself as the dominant species, the number of confirmed cases is rapidly increasing. As of the 2nd, BA.5 accounts for 53.6% of new confirmed cases.
The official daily number of new confirmed cases in the United States is being maintained at 100,000 to 110,000, but in fact, it is estimated that the number of new confirmed cases will reach seven times the official figure, according to a research institute affiliated with the University of Washington Medical School.
There are many people who do not receive tests properly because they are identified with home self-test kits or because they are blunt.
Antibody neutralization ability also increased
BA.5 is a descendant of the Omicron (BA.1) mutation and the Stealth Omicron (BA.2) mutation.
It is the fifth mutation identified in the omicron (BA) family, hence the name BA.5.
It was first discovered in South Africa, and the characteristic of this mutation is that it spreads quickly and has a strong immune evasion ability.
It has a 35.1% faster propagation power than BA.2, and 3 times stronger than the Omicron mutation in the ability to neutralize the antibody formed by vaccination.
It is known to cause severe sore throat and nasal congestion.
However, the health authorities are understanding that the severity and death rate of BA.5 is not higher than that of Omicron.
Enlarging an image
BA.5 is growing rapidly now.
We know that BA.5 has significantly increased radio wave power compared to the existing BA.2.
And this BA.5 is thought to cause a lot of re-infection because the immune evasion ability is improved at the same time.
However, it has not been confirmed to date whether the severity is increased.
And even when looking at cases in other countries, it is not reported that severe cases or mortality rates are rising particularly significantly.
(Lim Sook-young, head of the situation at the Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters)
Ki-seok Ki-seok, a professor at Hallym University Medical School, chair of the Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, is paying attention to the transmission power of BA. That's what I'm afraid of." He said, warning about the strong radio wave power.
Possibility of entering a stronger person...
Another mutation, BA.2.75, has been detected in foreign countries. After it was first reported in India, it was confirmed in 12 countries including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and Japan.
Enlarging an image
BA.2.75 is a sub-variant of BA.2 (Stealth Omicron), which has been the dominant species for a while.
'Centaurus' is a monster with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, so BA.2.75 also means a monster virus.
It is said that there are three more mutations in the spike protein that are also differentiated from BA.5, and the spike protein is the part that comes into contact with the surface of human cells first.
So it is expected that immunity evasion is stronger than BA.5, and even if you acquire immunity to BA.5, you can be infected again with BA.2.75.
Although it has not yet been detected in Korea, as we have experienced many times that the virus has no borders, landing in Korea should be viewed as a matter of time.
However, there is no need to be intimidated by the name of the monster virus.
In India, where BA.2.75 was first spread, it is more contagious, but there are reports that it does not appear to increase the risk of serious illness or death.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, then... up to 37,000 ↑
The number of confirmed cases announced today (12th) is the highest in 62 days since May 11 (43,908 people) as we entered the phase of the corona re-epidemic.
There are 37,360 new confirmed cases, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases has reached 18.56 million.
Enlarging an image
The increase in the number of confirmed cases is clear, especially since the beginning of last week, the 'doubling' phenomenon, in which the number of confirmed cases doubles in units of one week, has continued.
The corona risk level announced by the government has also been upgraded from 'low' to 'medium' in 8 weeks.
Enlarging an image
Let's look at the Infection Reproduction Index, which shows how many people around one confirmed person infect.
It fell to 0.74 in the first week of June, then rose for 5 weeks in a row, exceeding '1' and rising to 1.40.
If it is 1 or more, it means that the epidemic is spreading, and if it is less than 1, it means that the epidemic is suppressed.
As we saw earlier, BA.5, which is the dominant type of flu virus, and BA.2.75, which is expected to land in Korea, are not of high severity, but have strong transmission and immune evasion ability. This is a general analysis of the medical community.
a piece of the day
Enlarging an image
This is the moment when a participant collapsed without avoiding a running bull at the 'San Fermin Festival' in Spain, famous for herding cattle.
This festival was held for the first time in two years since Corona, and it is said that the wounded one after another.
(Photo = Yonhap News)
Enlarging an image