A new COVID variant nicknamed “Pirola” has been detected in Australia after sparking a sped-up vaccination program in the United Kingdom.
A new variant in itself is not unusual — viruses evolve and change over time, and new mutated versions pop up frequently.
However, this one caught the attention of scientists.
According to the British Medical Journal, Pirola appears to have evolved from the Omicron subvariant BA.2, which was widely circulating in early 2022.
One case has been detected in Australia, in a laboratory in Western Australia, genomic sequencing data shows.
However, there could be more out there because only a fraction of all COVID-19 infections get submitted to for testing.
WA’s health department said the case in Australia was “closely related – without significant differences – to those BA.2.86 strains reported from other countries”.
The World Health Organization labelled BA.2.86 a “variant under monitoring” — which means they’re keeping a close eye on it — in mid-August.
While new variants emerge all the time, scientists became interested in this one because of how mutated it was compared to its predecessor.
It has 33 changes to its spike proteins — the pointy part of the virus that infects human cells — compared to BA.2, analysis from China found.
To put that into context, that’s the same magnitude of changes that made Omicron so distinct from the Delta variant which dominated the world in late 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control said.
Despite all the mutations, scientists say BA.2.86 so far does not appear to be behaving too differently to other variants.
There have been no reports that it causes different symptoms to previous variants, Africa’s Centre for Disease Control said.
The degree of mutations the virus carried worried many scientists when it first emerged, due to fears it could find it easier to evade immunity from vaccines or previous infections.
The United Kingdom brought its vaccination program for vulnerable groups and healthcare workers forward by one month, over concerns about the variant.
However in Australia, the federal government said the latest advice on vaccinations — which is to get up to date with booster shots — still applied.
WA’s health department encouraged people to remain vigilant about COVID-19 and other viruses.
(ABC)
