‘Pirola’ Sparks Alarm In Many Countries
The Pirola variant has been detected in Israel, Canada, Denmark, the UK, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Thailand.
What is Pirola?
The BA.2.86 variant, nicknamed “Pirola”, is a newly designated, highly mutating variant of Omicron which triggered the surge in cases.Pirola has more than 30 mutations,EG.5 is a descendant of the Omicron variant and has one notable mutation that helps it to evade antibodies developed by the immune system in response to earlier variants and vaccines.
While the World Health Organization has confirmed that “the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level,” it also classified it as a “variant of interest”, meaning it has genetic changes that give it an advantage and its prevalence is growing.
What are the symptoms that you should watch out for?
While there have been very few cases of Pirola detected worldwide, severe disease and death has not been associated with it. The UK, in a recent assessment of the variant, said that one person was mildly unwell, one person was symptomatic, and one person did not have any respiratory symptoms.
Will boosters be effective?
Scientists are evaluating the effectiveness of the forthcoming updated COVID-19 booster against BA.2.86, according to the CDC, which says the updated vaccine is expected to be effective at reducing severe disease and hospitalisation from BA.2.86.The elderly and immunocompromised are especially encouraged to get the shot to lessen their chances of developing severe symptoms.
What precautions have some countries taken?
The United Kingdom will bring forward the start of its autumn flu and COVID-19 vaccination programmes as a precautionary step after the identification of the BA.2.86 variant.
The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care said annual vaccination programmes for older and at-risk groups would start a few weeks earlier than planned in light of the variant.
The variant was first detected in Britain on August 18, and vaccinations will start on September 11, with care home residents and people at high risk to receive the shots first.
In the US, updated COVID-19 vaccines are expected to become available next month as alarm grows over a new variant Eris.
What is the trend of Pirola cases in India?
While India has not reported any case of Pirola, doctors say that the symptoms are likely to remain the same as most Covid-19 variants — fever, cough and cold.
Reference
- https://www.ndtv.com/science/new-covid-variant-pirola-sparks-alarm-in-many-countries-heres-all-you-need-to-know-4354390
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/4/what-is-pirola-the-newest-ba-2-86-coronavirus-variant-that-is-spreading#:~:text=The%20BA.2.86%20variant%2C%20nicknamed,triggered%20the%20surge%20in%20cases.
- https://indianexpress.com/article/health-wellness/pirola-variant-of-covid-19-signs-symptoms-risk-factor-protection-8922254/
- https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/current-affairs/10-things-to-know-about-the-new-emerging-covid-variant-pirola-11295861.html
- https://thefederal.com/covid-19/virus-can-spread-to-heart-brain-other-organs-to-prolong-covid-study/
