Can Omicron BF.7 cause new wave, increase hospitalisations in India? Coronavirologist answers
Omicron BF.7 that was first seen in India in July is currently wreaking havoc in China. Expert says it's not clear whether the variant is still spreading fast in India or not but a wave cannot be ruled out.
Just when we thought that Coronavirus pandemic is behind us, a brand-new strain of Covid - Omicron BF.7 that is causing massive hospitalisations and deaths in China - has sparked fear of a fresh wave in India. The new Omicron subvariant is expected to infect 60% of the population in China in the coming months and thus millions of people there are at risk of facing Covid complications and long Covid syndrome. Coronavirus was first spotted in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and the first case of the virus was reported in January 2020 in Kerala and since then our life is not the same. We wonder if it's possible for the new Omicron BF.7 variant to cause the same kind of a deadly wave in India few months down the line as it is causing now in China? Will it increase hospitalisations and mortality in India in the same way? We asked a Coronavirologist. (Also read: Omicron BF.7: Cases of highly infectious strain rise in India; experts on symptoms, precautions and fresh wave)
WILL OMICRON BF.7 INCREASE HOSPITALISATIONS IN INDIA?
"Every time the virus replicates, every single time, there is a possibility of a dangerous variant emerging. That is how variants are created. It is a natural process of evolution. So, more we allow the virus to replicate the more variants would be coming up. This variant (Omicron BF.7) has RO factor that is much higher compared to previous variants which can spread much faster among individuals and the more individuals are infected the more chances of a new variant getting created are. There is no way to predict which variant will be more dangerous or lead to more hospitalisations. Every time the virus infects another person, every time the virus makes copies of itself, we have a possibility of a new variant to arrive. And this could definitely cause rise in hospitalisations, because we don't know how severe or intense or dangerous these variants could be. We also must remember that if the number of cases increase, the hospitalisation will increase. Because in any variant, there will be a number of people who will need hospitalisation. When the number of cases is high, the number of hospitalisations will be high. we have to keep track of the rate of hospitalisation rather than the number of hospitalisations to determine whether a variant is more severe or not," says Dr Pavithra Venkatagopalan, Coronavirologist and Covid Awareness Specialist, Rotary Club of Madras NextGen.
OMICRON BF.7: IS THE WORSE BEHIND US OR AHEAD OF US
Dr Pavithra says we cannot be sure whether India will face a new wave triggered by Omicron BF.7 or an all-new subvariant in coming months or not.
"The fact of that matter is BF.7 variant was discovered in India as early as July. Whether this variant is spreading or not, we don't know. Because we don't really track the variants that come in our contact very frequently. It is possible that it could cause new wave but it is also possible that we could have possibly gone past that wave. This fear comes from hospitalisations in China in smaller towns not even the bigger towns. We don't have clear data of what exactly is happening in China. So, it is possible that we could get a new wave of Covid-19 based on this BF.7 or it is possible that a newer variant will take its place," adds Dr Pavithra.
SYMPTOMS OF OMICORN BF.7
"The symptoms of BF.7 are not significantly different from other Omicron strains because basically it is the same omicron variant. There's a WhatsApp rumour going around it has no symptoms, people are completely asymptomatic, but they continue to transfer it to others. There is not truth in this matter. It is an upper respiratory infection. The severity of the symptoms depends on immune status of the individual getting infected," concludes Dr Pavithra.
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