A variant of BA.5 is widespread, which may result in loss of COVID immunity.

It’s the most infectious strain to date, and it’s coming even though many people have canceled the pandemic.

BA.5, the currently predominant coronavirus subvariant in New Jersey and the United States, has shown resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine and is nervous to experts. To make matters worse, previous immunity does not seem to be the shield of the past, as protection from recent infections seems to reduce or provide no armor to the strain.

Stephanie Silvera, an infectious disease expert and professor at Montclair State University, said:

New jersey new infections rise.. Hospitalization is the best of 4 months. And autumn and winter, when pandemic surges are commonplace, are just around the corner.

According to the report, hospitalization reached 1,013 as of Tuesday night, and 39 patients were on mechanical ventilation. State Ministry of Health.. New Jersey has exceeded 1,000 hospitalizations for the first time since February 22nd. The seven-day average for confirmed positive test states was 2,623, an increase of more than 900% from the same date in the previous year.

“Much more people are more susceptible to this strain than ever before,” said Dr. David Senimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers University of New Jersey Medical School.

He called it “Perfect Storm”. BA.5 appeared because people lost their immunity and stopped taking precautions such as wearing masks in public places.

“This feels like a blow at this point when everyone decides to stop taking precautions,” he said.

He said infections still tend to be mild to most people. He suspects that the vaccine still provides some protection.

“So I still don’t think it’s scary,” Senimo said. “But that’s definitely noticeable and worrisome, and I think we should probably pay a little more attention now.”

He is worried that things can get dramatically worse in the fall and winter as people return indoors and the cold and flu seasons come back.

It is unclear if people will change their patterns. Some people wear masks in stores, but most don’t. Some have booster shots, others don’t. People are uncertain whether to administer boosters now or wait until a new and improved vaccine is given later this year. Adjusted to protect against Omicron subvariants May be released.

But Silvera is worried that the vaccine version will not be in time — and people may not be able to get it.

The tricky part of BA.5 (an already infectious Omicron variant mutation) is that existing vaccines and boosters are less effective. It has long been one of the greatest concerns of professionals. It also causes people who were once immune to re-infect.

“The rate of reinfection seems to be increasing, and the protection bubble time we had previously thought was about 90 days, but this BA.5 seems to be decreasing because it is so contagious. “Silvera said. That is because it evades immune defense much more efficiently than previous sub-strains and other mutants that were there. People who had Omicron in January or April are now beginning to see reinfection. “

Dr. Bob Wachter, Dean of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, agrees.

“Not only is it highly infectious, but previous immunity is less important than it used to be,” he says. Recently told NPR.. “And that means the old man saw that” I had COVID a month ago, so I have a superpower of COVID immunity, so I’m not going to get it again. ” To do.

Although BA.5 has proven to be an effective spreader, “I don’t think it’s entirely determined whether it’s likely to cause hospitalization,” Silvera said.

She wonders how many people have exceeded the six-month period since the last vaccination or booster dose. It can reach millions of New Jersey inhabitants.

And perhaps the most chilly BA.5 seems to be affecting the immune system, making people more susceptible to not only COVID-19 reinfection, but also other viral infections.

“By re-infecting, you are more likely to actually get infected again,” Silvera said. “Probably the third or fourth time due to the exhaustion of the immune system by COVID.”

Some preliminary data also showed that people who had COVID-19 recently reduced their white blood cell count, she said.

“It may mean that they may be susceptible to other illnesses because they have a secondary infection, not just COVID,” Silvera said.

“There was some impact on people with mild illness,” she added.

Worse news?

Subvariants are continuously mutated, making it even more difficult for the immune system to counterattack.

“BA.5 has enough mutations that the immune system doesn’t recognize it either or quickly, and the antibodies don’t attach either,” Cennimo said.

And another new stock is already circulating. BA.2.75 Those that have recently emerged and have been found in 10 other countries, including India and the United States, appear to be spreading rapidly, avoiding vaccines and protection from previous infections.

Cennimo predicts that boost immunization will be recommended in the fall, when fine-tuning vaccines specific for the Omicron submutant are expected. He is wondering what could happen at that point because other viruses are widespread. How many people get boosters? How many people are vaccinated against the flu?

“I’m going to assume that my behavior won’t change,” Cennimo said. “So I’m going to mix it with influenza infections, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and everything else and monitor those numbers.”

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Spencer Kent may reach at [email protected]..