Recall everything: strains of coronavirus that may return in the fall

The number of recorded cases of covid in the world by the end of summer for the first time in a month less than 5 million people. At the same time, Rospotrebnadzor stated that for the current period, by the upcoming epidemiological season of 2022-2023, the resumption of restrictive measures to counter the spread of a new coronavirus infection in educational institutions is not required. Nevertheless, doctors continue to insist on the attentive attitude of citizens to elementary means of prevention. In their opinion, the danger of a new, already seventh wave of coronavirus has not disappeared.

Strains that shook the world

Coronavirus SARS-Cov-2, which caused a global pandemic, appeared just over two and a half years ago. At the moment, it has already been well studied. But perhaps the most characteristic and well-known feature of the disease can be called its frequent mutation. At first, various strains were named after the countries where they were first recorded.. So, the alpha genetic variant, first discovered in the UK, was called the British strain of coronavirus. By analogy, beta is the South African strain, gamma is the Brazilian strain, and delta is the Indian strain of the coronavirus.

But the WHO refused such a designation, the level of negativity towards those countries that received the dubious honor of giving a name to a new strain was too high. That is why now all new covid mutations are named sequentially by the letters of the Greek alphabet.

An attentive reader may ask: “Then why was the last “version” of the virus called “Omicron”, if it is the 15th letter of the alphabet, and not the 13th, as it should have been?”. The fact is that two letters “fell out” from the list. The first “nu” – because of the consonance with the English word “new”, the second “xi” – because of the consonance with the most common surname in China – Xi.

As a result, WHO developed list of strains of concern – VOC (Variants of Concern), which includes:

• Alpha strain of coronavirus. Discovered in the UK in September 2020, this contagious strain has quickly spread around the world. The virus is resistant to the action of the immune system.
• Coronavirus beta strain. It was identified in 2020 in South Africa. The South African strain of coronavirus is highly contagious. Drug resistant.
• Coronavirus gamma strain. This Brazilian variant was identified in early 2021. High contagiousness (infectiousness), resistance to immune antibodies, the ability to cause disease in young people, in pregnant women – all this is inherent in the Brazilian strain.
• Delta strain of coronavirus. The Indian variety of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in the summer of 2021. This virus spreads rapidly, and the disease it causes is severe.

Omicron and his “daughters”

At the end of November last year, WHO added the Omicron strain to the VOC list. It caused a surge in the incidence worldwide. This strain is highly contagious and sets new anti-records every day. If initially COVID-19 was mainly diagnosed in the elderly and weakened by concomitant diseases, then this virus affects even children.

“Centaur” – a subspecies of the coronavirus strain “Omicron”, which was assigned the code number BA.2.75 in microbiology. A new subtype of the virus was first detected in India in May 2022. Today, the Centaur strain is known to circulate in more than 10 countries around the world, including Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and the USA.

“The latest strains of coronavirus have symptoms similar to colds. The disease caused by them is already easier. But we still do not fully know what the consequences may be. Let’s remember who the centaur is? This is a man-horse, he can move quickly. The strain named after him is characterized by the fact that it spreads very quickly. But in Russia so far it has not been fixed as much as other types of omicron – BA.4 and BA.5, ”said Nikolai Malyshev, infectious disease specialist, professor, doctor of medical sciences, in an interview with MK.

“As the almost three-year coronavirus epic has shown, the new coronavirus is prone to frequent variability and mutation, which makes it difficult to fight it. Clinically, the disease caused by the Centaur strain often proceeds in a mild form, as an acute respiratory infection – fever, aching joints, runny nose, and in some cases intestinal disorders are also recorded. But… At the same time, the symptom of a violation of smell returned, which was not the case with previous versions of the omicron. The coronavirus has mutated again,” said Professor Vladimir Petrov, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Public Health and Health at IATE NRNU MEPhI.

According to the speaker, the Centaur strain is more contagious, but generally does not pose a particular danger in terms of severe outcomes and prognosis. Nevertheless, people with chronic bronchopulmonary pathology, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and the like, that is, patients with comorbid (combined) pathology, remain at risk.

Getting ready for reflection

The medical community continues to work on new types of medicines for coronavirus to this day. So, for example, in April of this year, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation registered Skyvira, the first drug based on nirmatrelvir and ritonavir registered in the Russian Federation at that time. The company said that this is a new generation of drugs that should prevent the complicated course of the disease. At the same time, in the latest version of the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, published on August 18, 2022, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir are already included in the list of possible prescription drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults..

As doctors say, the main thing we can do to protect ourselves from the disease is to carry out prevention. Wearing masks in public places, maintaining social distance – we have long been familiar with these measures. Resuming more active use of antiseptics, which never hurts. And, of course, do not forget about vaccination against COVID-19. It is imperative to get vaccinated.