There are several cases of the Omicron 2 variant in Italy. The Omicron 2 variant is called the BA.2 variant and is a strain that evolved in parallel from a common ancestor, the BA.1. Both have many mutations in common, but there are major, albeit microscopic, differences between the two. Omicron 2 is spreading rapidly around the world, in at least 40 countries, including Italy, where it has been detected through sequencing in several regions.

Omicron 2 and Omicron 1 variant, the differences

Omicron 2 belongs to the same strain as Omicron, but is distinguished by some mutations on the Spike protein with which the virus attaches cells. To distinguish it from the original strain it was called BA.2. According to Seppo Meri, a professor of Immunology at the University of Helsinki, “Omicron variants spread faster because they appear to be better at escaping vaccine-induced immunity (and to some extent infections). And this is because the Omicron variants have many more mutations in protein S ”, the Spike of the virus,“ than the previous variants. In this respect the differences between BA.1 and BA.2 are not that great, although there are some amino acid changes in the S protein. The major difference between BA.1 and BA.2 was reported in the ORF1ab gene. What that means is still an open question. The large protein complex encoded by ORF1ab is involved in the replication of the virus and in the proteolytic processing of viral proteins “. As for Omicron-related symptoms, “BA.1 appears to cause slightly less severe disease than the Delta variant, which is a positive sign,” reflects the expert.

Omicron 2, the symptoms

According to the Higher Institute of Health, the characteristics and symptoms of Omicron 2 should not be so different from the original strain that in most cases it generates rhino-pharyngo-tracheitis. The experts have highlighted at least 8 symptoms of Omicron which, according to the first data in the possession of the experts, could also be compared to the new sub-variant. According to the researchers, these symptoms tend to manifest quickly and fairly early in the disease, starting about 2 days after the infection and lasting about 5 days. The first 8 warning signs of the infection are: sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, back pain (lower back), night sweats. To these signals, the WHO has added other possible symptoms, namely: diarrhea, confusion,

Omicron 2, the consequences

“The data from Denmark, which is today the country in the world with the highest circulation of the Omicron 2 variant, tell us that in the face of a 50% increase in the circulation of the virus, there has been a 60% reduction in hospitalizations”, underlines the ‘Genoese infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti, according to whom there is a difference between the two variants above all in its tendency to spread, but also in its effects. “Omicron 2 is a more contagious variant than Omicron 1 but certainly less pathogenic especially at the lung level – adds the expert -. We are moving towards a simultaneous circulation of Omicron 1 and 2: from the clinical point of view there is not a great difference, we are dealing with patients with a less severe picture than Delta “.

Omicron 2 and the vaccine

Covid vaccines are very effective against the BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, nicknamed “Omicron 2”. The figure was published in the latest bulletin on the UK vaccination campaign, the “COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report” published by the UK Health Security Agency. The efficacy of the vaccines was even several percentage points higher than that found against the original Omicron strain (BA.1), from which several daughter sub-variants are generated. Among them, BA.2 is considered to be of greatest health interest since it has supplanted the former in some countries – such as Denmark – and is gaining the upper hand in others, probably due to some mutations that give it further advantages in transmissibility.

The Omicron 2 variant is Omicron’s twin.

This was stated by the director of the Spallanzani Institute Francesco Vaia, on the sidelines of the ceremony for the two years after the Chinese couple’s hospitalization, the first two cases of Covid diagnosed in Italy. “We have been sequencing it for more than a month but we didn’t think we needed to create alarmism. It must not scare us because it is the same as Omicron ”. “Today we are at a very good point – he added – We think the time has come to mitigate the measures, the vaccine tool allows us to say that the game is almost over. But we need to vaccinate all over the world, starting with Africa, and upgrade to vaccines. We need to get to an annual booster dose. The Omicron variant takes on the character of a seasonal virus. It is useless to think of a fourth or fifth dose, but we are moving towards an annual recall, starting with the fragile ones “. “I was received a few days ago by President Mattarella, he told me that Spallanzani was the bulwark of the country”, in these two difficult years in which Italy has come to terms with the Covid epidemic. “The Italian way was the right one, we faced the pandemic well and we must feel proud”.

Omicron 2: don’t be afraid

“From ‘do not be afraid’, our message at the beginning of the emergency, to ‘spring of hope’, the message of these days. It is the passage that today, after two years of pandemic, we want to underline here in front of the Spallanzani fountain ”.

Covid: the letter from the Chinese couple

“Our thoughts go to all those who have not made it, we are lucky and grateful to Italy, a hospitable home that has welcomed and looked after us. We are the beginning of this story and we hope to write the end all together ”wrote the Chinese couple from Wuhan in a letter of thanks, which was read at the opening of today’s ceremony at Spallanzani.