Amid the rampant fears of Omicron spread in the country, 21 infections of BA.2, a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant have doubled the threat in Indore. Of this load, six happen to children including a one-day-old infant. As per reports, all cases of the sub-mutation have been traced at a private laboratory in Indore, in the last 18 days. Since the new variant is relatively new, doctors and healthcare experts are conflicted over the severity of the infection caused by it.
Infection in lungs might be a cause of concern
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SAIMS Chairman, Dr V Bhandari reportedly said that the lung involvement caused by the sub-lineage strain might be a cause of worry. He also shared that those who have taken the precautionary shot show only 1 to 5% of lung involvement. On the other hand, Dr Sanjay Dixit, Dean, MGM Medical College, added that any lung infection less than 50% is not critical. However, all patients reporting lung infections are being closely monitored.
Symptoms more or less the same
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While some experts are concerned about the severity of the BA.2 infection, many consider the symptoms to have no distinguishable differences than those already caused by the original Omicron variant. The rate of transmission and the severity of symptoms is nearly identical for BA.2 and BA.1 sub-lineages.
While only three cases of BA.1 were found Indore on Sunday, the sub-variant is infecting people significantly across the country. This new wave is expected to peak in February.