Centaurus is another Omicron sub-variant that was originally recognized in India, where the transmission of the virus has been much faster than before in the last few days.
The new Omikron BA.2.75: Centaurus has arrived in Europe. What do we know about him?
Published July 15, 2022 10:44
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The official name of the sub-option was presented by Tom Peacock of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London on June 30th. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has designated Centaurus as a "monitored variant" which means that there are some indications that it may be more infectious and associated with more severe symptoms.
Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist for the World Health Organization (WHO), said mutations in this variant could enter healthy cells in the body, raising concerns that it has a greater ability to infect. Scientists say that Omicron BA.2.75, due to its structure, can defeat antibodies and lead to reinfection. However, it is too early to say unequivocally whether Centaurus is more dangerous than the known variants of the virus. What is certain is that it has already reached Great Britain, Germany, the United States and Canada.
Virologists' attention is drawn to the number of additional mutations contained in BA.2.75 compared to BA.2 from which it probably evolved. "This could mean it has a chance to develop an advantage over its current line of viruses," said Dr. Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds. Griffin cited this as another example of the virus's impressive ability to tolerate changes in the spiked protein - the part it uses to infect cells and on which most vaccines are based. "Over the past year, many experts believed that Delta was the evolutionary pinnacle of the virus," added Griffin. However, he says, only the advent of Omicron and its enormous variability and ability to defeat antibodies indicate that we are not dealing with a typical flu evolution.
Source: Marca/The Guardian
