Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson Kristen Nordlung told The Washington Post last week that currently, there are insufficient data to determine whether the BA.2 lineage is more transmissible or has a fitness advantage over the BA.1 lineage.. Remember, having COVID is often similar to having the flueven if you do not have severe disease or get admitted to a hospital, fighting a fever and other symptoms is not pleasant. The deadly novel coronavirus mutated over time and and has created newer variants that fueled every wave of the pandemic. Public health officials and scientists are closely monitoring BA.2, which has been described as a "stealth" variantbecause it has genetic mutations that could make it harder to distinguish from. As far as the contagiousness of the subvariant is concerned it can spread as easily as its parent variant. Is it just going to be there at low levels causing a few cases or are we going to see an upsurge of cases over the next several weeks? Northwestern's Dr. Michael Angarone, an associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases, said the symptoms for BA.2 are similar to those seen in many COVID infections. "This may mean higher peak infections in places that have yet to peak, and a slowdown in the downward trends in places that have already experienced peak Omicron,"Thomas Peacock, PhD, a virologist at Imperial College London, explain to The New York Times. There will always be evolution of this virus towards heightened transmissibility, he adds. "BA.2 has a number of mutations that BA.1 does not have that are in the region of genomes that concerns us," Jeremy Luban, MD, a professor of molecular medicine, biochemistry, and molecular pharmacology at University of Massachusetts Medical School, told Verywell Health. "While we're waiting for data to come in, I would expect that somebody who has just had, if you knew that it was Omicron, you would probably be unlikely to get Omicron again for the next few months based on what we've seen previously. According to the U.K. Zoe COVID Study App, the five most frequently reported signs of the original version of this variant are runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat. What Is BA.2, the 'Stealth Omicron' Variant - Stealth Omicron Symptoms Android, The best in medicine, delivered to your mailbox. The content provided here and elsewhere on the Solv Health site or mobile app is provided for general informational purposes only. He claims a director asked him to undress. Because of this rapid spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Arcturus as a variant of interest on April 17th. A month after the omicron subvariant BA.2 made the headlines for being a "stealth" version of the novel coronavirus, health officials are now warning of two new symptoms not typically seen in patients infected with other variants. You are encouraged to discuss any questions that you may have about your health with your healthcare provider. The stealth variant has about 20 mutations that differ from the original Omicron, according to Francois Balloux, a professor of computational system biology and director of the UCL Genetics Institute in London. For some people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple weeks. What do you need to know? New studies are showing that its symptoms are generally the same as other variants and remain mostly mild to moderate flu-like symptoms, especially if vaccinated. People Are Saying COVID Could Become Endemic But What Does That Mean? The top 5 symptoms in both periods were: runny nose. The subvariant, detected in at least 57 . The positivity rate is also up to 1.8%, an increase from the 1.5% reported last week. 5 Reasons You Are Feeling Tired All The Time Being de-hydrated - Enough water is the cure of more . And as regions all across the country begin to ease the few mask mandates that remain, we can understand why this new development may cause concern. The German-based GISAID Initiative indicates that BA.2 cases in the U.S. have remained at 100 cases in 20 different states as of this week, based on its public data. Always talk to your doctor for professional medical advice. This subvariant seems closely related to XBB.1.15, the Omicron subvariant that dominated late last year and early 2023. Medical experts say the symptoms for BA.2 are similar to those seen in many COVID infections. Known officially as BA.2, the subtype has small variations. The question I'm getting now is do we need a second booster? Other experts say they don't feel like the emergence of the stealth Omicron variant is any cause for panic. With the rolling back of mask requirements and physical distancing, many people have been on a search for a new normal. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { a booster shot) than after the second dose, though effectiveness appeared to wane after four months, which may possibly later signal a need for another booster dose in the future. Predicting anything at this stage would be incorrect and may mislead others. Physician organizations applaud introduction of Medicare payment legislation and more in the latest Advocacy Update spotlight. Were seeing very low rates of positivity for coronavirus right now and were actually seeing more influenza, said Dr. Crum. Stealth omicron variant symptoms: What we know so far - Deseret News However, one must note, these are only early stage symptoms. For others, it may cause no symptoms at all. Its moniker comes from the fact that certain lab tests can't register BA.2 as entirely unique in its genetic structure at first, according to CNN. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also tracking the variant across the United States. This difference also may be why BA.2 escaped attention earlier. The National Health Commission in China reported 1,337 locally transmitted cases in the latest 24-hour period, including 895 in the industrial province of Jilin. Your session has expired, please login again. The three main symptoms of Covid-19, according to the NHS, are a new persistent cough, high temperature and loss of taste and smell. As Dr. Van Kerkhove, WHO epidemiologist, noted, XBB.1.16 replaced other existing variants in India. For me, one of the scariest things is that it's not just the people who are hospitalized and have severe COVID that are developing long COVID, said Dr. Crum. But a sub-variant of Omicron, called BA.2 or stealth Omicron has also been making waves more recently. With expert resources and tireless advocacy, the AMA is your powerful ally against COVID-19. Many people who have Omicron say it feels like a common cold, and here are the 8 early warning signs you need to look out for. Experts say BA.2 has extensive mutations and . Therefore, various cases of Stealth Omicron lead to stomach issues instead of. Not only that, but the available vaccines appear to be effective against this variant, especially for those who received a booster shot, Dr. Naik says. Stealth Omicron Symptoms. As far as new symptoms go, you don't have to worry much about stealth omicron. Omicron stealth variant: What is it? What is the mysterious BA.2 Between Delta, Omicron, and the original strains, its all made most of our heads spin. Visit our online community or participate in medical education webinars. Omicron is very contagious and, according to Danish scientists, the BA.2 variant is slightly more contagious (1.5 times) than the first Omicron strain, Dr. Naik explains. Read below for the BA.2 variant's symptoms. BA.1, aka the Omicron that people have largely been tracking, is missing one of three target genes that are used in a standard PCR test, Dr. Russo explains. BA.2, though, is increasing in many countries, the WHO says online. WHO, XBB.1.16 Initial Risk Assessment (April 17, 2023), XBB.1.5: A new Covid variant spreads across the US. What doctors wish patients knew about the What is the BA.2 or stealth Omicron subvariant? In the first few days, we had a sequence, the sequence itself was terrifying, but it took time before we could find out if Omicron would be more pathogenic and infectious.". So, COVID tests can detect Arcturus, and existing COVID treatments work. These days, we still just recommend people get the vaccine if you haven't because there is protection against the current circulating virus, said Dr. Crum. Heres what to do. This subvariant seems closely related to XBB.1.15, the Omicron subvariant that dominated late last year and early 2023. The latest COVID variants are spreading faster with more breakthrough infections. But for some people, they will get infected with this new subvariant. What is the Stealth Omicron? BA.2 Symptoms, Severity Explained - NBC Boston Some of the other symptoms experienced are very similar to the other coronaviruses such as febrile illness and respiratory symptoms.. Most vaccinated people either have no symptoms or exhibit very mild symptoms, according to health officials, and the virus rarely results in hospitalization or death for those individuals. "BA.2 may extend the Omicron wave a little longer, but I don't think it changes the overall trajectory of the pandemic," Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Prevention, adding that "there is no cause for concern with BA.2 as everything you do to handle BA.1 is applicable.". This means there has been a break from some of the earlier tell-tale COVID symptoms like loss of smell or taste and shortness of breath. Each month, the Senior Physician Sectionhighlights membersand individualsto showcase their work and current efforts. Sneezing. She has a masters degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day. Learn more. In fact, a recent CDC report that examined hospital ER and urgent care center data found that vaccine effectiveness against ER visits and hospitalizations was higher after the third dose (i.e. sore throat. BA.2, also known as "stealth omicron," is considered a subvariant of omicron, but, according to Chicago's top doctor, the suvariant is now making up at least two-thirds of the city's COVID cases. The Delta Variant killed the most number of people during the second wave. It seems that these mutations will propel the transmissibility to about a 30% to 50% higher degree of contagiousness than the BA.1 variant," said Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease physician and the COVID-19 vaccine coordinator for Cook County Health. The BA.2 subvariant has been referred to as stealth Omicron because it contains genetic mutations that can make it harder to distinguish from the Delta variant using PCR tests compared to the original Omicron variant. Explained: Stealth Omicron Subvariant, its Symptoms, Cases, and Death Rate xhr.send(payload); headache. Two years into the pandemic, a mutated version of the omicron variant, known as BA.2, has become the latest challenge to taming Covid-19. The omicron variant and its sublineages made the virus much more contagious and capable of infecting more people, but it's led to less severe disease, on average, than the delta variant . Learn more about improving surgical outcomes for senior patients. Still, NBC News reported symptoms associated with BA.2 seem to largely mirror a small number of symptoms commonly reported in omicron infections. It's not to say that researchers won't notice a new trend or common thread between "stealth" Omicron infections that differ from Omicron infections now, Delta-linked infections or those earliest cases of COVID-19 in 2020. "The most reported symptoms of Omicron are really very much like a cold, especially in people who've been vaccinated," Claire Steves, PhD, a scientist from King's College London involved with Zoe, confirmed in a Jan. 6 video. The experts said that at the moment, symptoms such as as runny nose, sneezing and a sore throat, are among those being most recorded. None of us know. He has written about food and dining for Time, among other publications.