Articles for Virus Variant

New FLiRT Covid variant spreading across the UK as doctors issue summer warning
8 months, 1 week ago

New FLiRT Covid variant spreading across the UK as doctors issue summer warning

The Independent  

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FDA says Covid vaccines may need to be updated every year
1 year, 1 month ago

FDA says Covid vaccines may need to be updated every year

Daily Mail  

Top health officials in the US are making plans for a new updated Covid vaccine to be rolled out this winter. Officials believe that the Covid vaccine will need to be updated every year, like with flu shots, in order to shore up protection against emerging variants. The agency added: 'Barring any new major changes to circulating virus, the FDA …

Vaccines Flu Fda Vaccine Variant Covid Vaccines Updated
Respiratory infections, influenza cases on the rise in Kerala
1 year, 3 months ago

Respiratory infections, influenza cases on the rise in Kerala

The Hindu  

A serious spike in respiratory infections for the past several weeks, mostly Influenza A, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19, has had the OP clinics and casualty wings of hospitals getting filled with people rushing in for consultations. There is also intense speculation that the new sub variant of Omicron virus variant — JN.1 — which is said to be highly …

Kerala Respiratory State Covid Spike Rsv Respiratory Infections
Return of masks? COVID-19 cases surge; new variant ‘Pirola’ causes concern
1 year, 6 months ago

Return of masks? COVID-19 cases surge; new variant ‘Pirola’ causes concern

Live Mint  

COVID-19 cases in the United States have surged to levels reminiscent of the peak experienced last winter, causing concerns over the emergence of a new highly mutated variant known as "Pirola" BA.2.86 and the impending respiratory virus season. Dr. Georges Benjamin, the Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, highlights that masking remains a potent tool for mitigating COVID-19 …

Fortune
New Covid variant BA.2.86 'under monitoring', US top health body issues advisory
1 year, 7 months ago

New Covid variant BA.2.86 'under monitoring', US top health body issues advisory

India Today  

US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that it was tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes Covid-19. The World Health Organisation earlier on Thursday said in a post on X that it had classified BA.2.86 as a "variant under monitoring" due to the large number of mutations it carries. The new lineage, …

Covid Variant Omicron
What You Need to Know About the Kraken Covid Variant
2 years, 2 months ago

What You Need to Know About the Kraken Covid Variant

Wired  

Since Omicron became the world’s dominant Covid variant, it’s taken on a lot of shapes. While XBB.1.5 infections are swelling, the WHO says there’s no evidence that this variant’s mutations would result in more severe infections—but it’s still early. Roychoudhury says it’s important to get eyes on variants early to identify them and consider how to design future vaccines: “Until …

Covid Variant Omicron
The XBB.1.5 variant is taking over on the East Coast. Will it happen in California too?
2 years, 2 months ago

The XBB.1.5 variant is taking over on the East Coast. Will it happen in California too?

LA Times  

A close-up view of a cell infected with an Omicron version of the coronavirus. In Los Angeles County, as in most of the country, the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 versions of Omicron still dominate, said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. We’re expecting it’ll occur over the next few weeks.” While it …

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Covid tests for China arrivals ‘unlikely to be effective’, says expert
2 years, 2 months ago

Covid tests for China arrivals ‘unlikely to be effective’, says expert

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Screening travellers from China for Covid is unlikely to prevent …

China Covid Variant
Covid-19 Omicron sub-variant BF.7 won't lead to severe disease, expert's report
2 years, 3 months ago

Covid-19 Omicron sub-variant BF.7 won't lead to severe disease, expert's report

India TV News  

The current Covid surge in many countries including China is believed to be driven by Omicron sub-variant BF.7. The BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5, which, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-chairman, the National IMA Covid taskforce, calls 'great-grandson of Omicron'. Giving credit to high vaccination coverage and naturally acquired immunity among those who survived past Covid-19 infection, Dr …

India China Covid Virus Variant Omicron Severe Disease
You may have been spreading the omicron variant without knowing it
2 years, 7 months ago

You may have been spreading the omicron variant without knowing it

Salon  

While omicron subvariant BA.5 has revealed itself to be the most contagious and immune-evasive iteration of COVID-19 yet, scientists have known for a long time that many cases of COVID-19, regardless of variant, are completely asymptomatic. As the recent study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open makes clear, more than half of the people who contracted the omicron …

Health Study Cheng Salon Infections Omicron Omicron Infections
Op-Ed: New COVID variants like BA.5 are dominating us — we can do more to prevent this
2 years, 8 months ago

Op-Ed: New COVID variants like BA.5 are dominating us — we can do more to prevent this

LA Times  

It takes a lot for a COVID-19 variant to become dominant throughout most of the world. In the last weeks BA.5 became the dominant COVID variant in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cause of nearly 54% of new cases, growing exponentially here since late April. The reason why BA.5 is a standout …

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New Covid variant 'XE' symptoms: Know how the virus is different from Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2
2 years, 11 months ago

New Covid variant 'XE' symptoms: Know how the virus is different from Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2

India TV News  

Highlights 'XE' is a mutant hybrid of the two previous versions of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2 XE has a community growth rate advantage of about 10 per cent as compared to BA.2 subvariant Its extremely high transmissibility could mean that it becomes the most dominant strain Even as reports emerge of a South African origin woman in Mumbai …

Growth Rate Covid Variant Omicron New Covid
Worried About New COVID Variants? Here's What To Expect.
2 years, 11 months ago

Worried About New COVID Variants? Here's What To Expect.

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Whenever a new COVID-19 variant is identified, fear and panic quickly sets in. There is a decent level of immunity in the population — from the vaccines and widespread infection — that it would take a lot for a new variant to offset every bit of the progress we’ve made in the past two years. Here’s what …

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Study reveals likely reason for ‘stealth’ Omicron’s recent success
3 years ago

Study reveals likely reason for ‘stealth’ Omicron’s recent success

LA Times  

COVID-19 vaccines are holding up against “stealth” Omicron almost as well as they do against the original version of the variant, a new study finds. It’s based on the team’s finding that the virus, whose official name is BA.2, is only slightly better than the dominant BA.1 at evading the protective effects of COVID-19 vaccines. We were really talking about …

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A dose of realism: The Hindu Editorial on COVID-19 surge post Omicron
3 years, 1 month ago

A dose of realism: The Hindu Editorial on COVID-19 surge post Omicron

The Hindu  

The World Health Organization chief, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, in a recent briefing, noted that 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the Omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago. From WHO’s perspective, the blanket lifting of restrictions poses a problem as most people appear to believe that Omicron is less threatening compared to previous variants and that …

Omicron
Two years on, India's battle with COVID-19, its variants continue with no end in sight
3 years, 1 month ago

Two years on, India's battle with COVID-19, its variants continue with no end in sight

Firstpost  

Till now, India has reported 4,10,92,522 cases and 4,94,091 fatalities due to COVID-19 and its variants New Delhi: Amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has completed two years since the first coronavirus case was reported in the country and during this time, it has not just battled the virus but also its mutated variants, even as uncertainty …

India Pandemic Variants End Covid Delta Omicron
Expect more worrisome variants after Omicron, scientists warn
3 years, 2 months ago

Expect more worrisome variants after Omicron, scientists warn

LA Times  

People wait in line at a COVID-19 testing site in New York City’s Times Square. “It’s the longer, persistent infections that seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new variants,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. For a virus that spreads exponentially, he said, “anything that curbs transmission can have a …

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Omicron Scare: Does booster dose really neutralizes COVID-19's new variant?
3 years, 2 months ago

Omicron Scare: Does booster dose really neutralizes COVID-19's new variant?

India TV News  

An international team of researchers recently studied the sensitivity of Omicron to antibodies compared with the currently dominant Delta variant. In a new study supported by the European Union's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the Vaccine Research Institute, in collaboration with KU Leuven, Orleans Regional Hospital, Hospital Europeen Georges Pompidou and Inserm, studied …

Virus Study Scientists Delta Leuven Effective Variant
Omicron mutating but disease severity remains mild, shows Delhi's LNJP Hospital study
3 years, 2 months ago

Omicron mutating but disease severity remains mild, shows Delhi's LNJP Hospital study

India TV News  

Highlights 35 mutations included 3 non-significant mutations in the spike protein, the research revealed Such patients were either asymptomatic or mild in nature, Dr. Suresh Kumar said The doctor has also welcomed Delhi govt's decision of closing all restaurants Omicron variant of coronavirus is mutating but the disease severity is mild, a study conducted by Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash …

Study Mild Omicron Lnjp Hospital Mutations Lnjp Shows Delhi
With Omicron, are we seeing the beginning of the end of Covid pandemic?
3 years, 2 months ago

With Omicron, are we seeing the beginning of the end of Covid pandemic?

India TV News  

Highlights Omicron is spreading fast but its symptoms are mild, many experts believe it as an established fact Mutations will keep happen, so we need to look at end game differently, say doctors Booster doses will likely become a routine task When will the pandemic end? Omicron: A see-through of what could be future trends The newest variant is a …

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Why cloth masks might not be enough as Omicron spreads
3 years, 2 months ago

Why cloth masks might not be enough as Omicron spreads

Live Mint  

Doctors and healthcare systems say it might be time to change your face masks. With infections surging due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, including among the vaccinated, physicians are now urging people to ditch cloth face masks, which they say may not provide enough protection against the virus. Single-layer cloth masks, which many people prefer for comfort and style, can …

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Scientists identify antibodies that can block Omicron variant of Covid-19
3 years, 3 months ago

Scientists identify antibodies that can block Omicron variant of Covid-19

India Today  

Scientists have identified antibodies that neutralise Omicron and other variants of coronavirus by targeting areas that remain essentially unchanged as the virus mutates. "This finding tells us that by focusing on antibodies that target these highly conserved sites on the spike protein, there is a way to overcome the virus' continual evolution," said David Veesler, an associate professor at the …

Variants Virus Protein Spike Able Variant Omicron
Omicron might not be as worrisome as being made out
3 years, 3 months ago

Omicron might not be as worrisome as being made out

Live Mint  

Here we go again. Bill Gates, the Cassandra of epidemics for some years now, and also the world’s leading vaccine proselytizer, posted a series of tweets last Tuesday, saying that the world could be entering the worst phase of the pandemic and that he had cancelled all his Christmas plans. The two combining is “certainly possible", just as it is …

India Covid Virus Delta Vaccine Omicron Booster Doses
Omicron: Why we should not panic but follow COVID-appropriate behaviour
3 years, 3 months ago

Omicron: Why we should not panic but follow COVID-appropriate behaviour

Firstpost  

Thirty new Omicron cases were recorded in India on Saturday, the highest single-day rise for the variant in the country. With 30 new Omicron cases being recorded on Saturday, the overall tally for the new variant reached 143 in India. Genomic scientists in South Africa have said that Omicron has an unusually high number of mutations with more than 30 …

India South Africa Symptoms Virus Variant This Virus Omicron