As the SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolves, Should Omicron Subvariant BA.2 Be Subjected to Quarantine, or Should We Learn to Live with It?

Overview

Journal Front Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2022 Dec 12

PMID 36504951

Authors

Ren Xu

Wanning Wang

Wenlong Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

It has been nearly 35 months since the COVID-19 outbreak. The pathogen SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into several variants. Among them, Omicron is the fifth variant of concern which have rapidly spread globally during the past 8 months. Omicron variant shows different characteristics from previous variants, which is highly infectious, highly transmissible, minimally pathogenic, vaccine and antibody tolerant; however, it is less likely to cause severe illness, resulting in fewer deaths. Omicron has evolved into five main lineages, including BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, and BA.5. Before BA.5, Omicron BA.2 sublineage was the dominant strain all over the world for several months. The experience of prevention and treatment against BA.2 is worth studying and learning for overcoming other Omicron subvariants. Although the Omicron subvariant BA.2 is significantly less severe than that caused by ancestral strains, it is still far more dangerous than influenza, and its long-term sequelae are unknown. Effective treatments are currently limited; therefore, effective defense may be the key to controlling the epidemic today, rather than just "living with" the virus.

Citing Articles

Molecular epidemiology and population immunity of SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong (2022-2023) following a pivotal shift in the pandemic.

Li Z, Hu P, Qu L, Yang M, Qiu M, Xie C Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):7033.

PMID: 39147778 PMC: 11327343. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51141-y.

Impact of non-emergency surgical timing on postoperative recovery quality in mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected patients: a grouped cohort study.

Wang Q, Wang Y, Wang Y, Chen H, Chen W, Chen Y BMC Anesthesiol. 2024; 24(1):225.

PMID: 38971737 PMC: 11227204. DOI: 10.1186/s12871-024-02600-y.

Impact of Anti-angiogenic Drugs on Severity of COVID-19 in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Peng S, Huang H, Chen J, Ding X, Zhu X, Liu Y Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2024; 23:15330338241248573.

PMID: 38656242 PMC: 11044805. DOI: 10.1177/15330338241248573.

Structure Activity Relationship and Molecular Docking of Some Quinazolines Bearing Sulfamerazine Moiety as New 3CLpro, cPLA2, sPLA2 Inhibitors.

Hussein M, Borik R, Nafie M, Abo-Salem H, Boshra S, Mohamed Z Molecules. 2023; 28(16).

PMID: 37630304 PMC: 10460087. DOI: 10.3390/molecules28166052.

Aprotinin-Drug against Respiratory Diseases.

Ivachtchenko A, Ivashchenko A, Shkil D, Ivashchenko I Int J Mol Sci. 2023; 24(13).

PMID: 37446350 PMC: 10342444. DOI: 10.3390/ijms241311173.

References

Takashita E, Kinoshita N, Yamayoshi S, Sakai-Tagawa Y, Fujisaki S, Ito M . Efficacy of Antiviral Agents against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariant BA.2. N Engl J Med. 2022; 386(15):1475-1477. PMC: 8929374. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2201933. View

Lyke K, Atmar R, Dominguez Islas C, Posavad C, Szydlo D, Paul Chourdhury R . Rapid decline in vaccine-boosted neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Cell Rep Med. 2022; 3(7):100679. PMC: 9212999. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100679. View

Bauch C, Anand M . COVID-19: when should quarantine be enforced?. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20(9):994-995. PMC: 7239632. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30428-X. View

Christensen P, Olsen R, Long S, Snehal R, Davis J, Saavedra M . Signals of Significantly Increased Vaccine Breakthrough, Decreased Hospitalization Rates, and Less Severe Disease in Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 Caused by the Omicron Variant of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in.... Am J Pathol. 2022; 192(4):642-652. PMC: 8812084. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2022.01.007. View

Kirsebom F, Andrews N, Stowe J, Toffa S, Sachdeva R, Gallagher E . COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the omicron (BA.2) variant in England. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022; 22(7):931-933. PMC: 9129256. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00309-7. View

Galloway S, Paul P, MacCannell D, Johansson M, Brooks J, MacNeil A . Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 Lineage - United States, December 29, 2020-January 12, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021; 70(3):95-99. PMC: 7821772. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7003e2. View

Darby S, Chulliyallipalil K, Przyjalgowski M, McGowan P, Jeffers S, Giltinan A . COVID-19: mask efficacy is dependent on both fabric and fit. Future Microbiol. 2020; 16:5-11. PMC: 7784787. DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2020-0292. View

Callaway E . Heavily mutated Omicron variant puts scientists on alert. Nature. 2021; 600(7887):21. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-021-03552-w. View

Guner R, Hasanoglu I, Aktas F . COVID-19: Prevention and control measures in community. Turk J Med Sci. 2020; 50(SI-1):571-577. PMC: 7195988. DOI: 10.3906/sag-2004-146. View

10.

Piroth L, Cottenet J, Mariet A, Bonniaud P, Blot M, Tubert-Bitter P . Comparison of the characteristics, morbidity, and mortality of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza: a nationwide, population-based retrospective cohort study. Lancet Respir Med. 2020; 9(3):251-259. PMC: 7832247. DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30527-0. View

11.

Fonager J, Bennedbaek M, Bager P, Wohlfahrt J, Ellegaard K, Ingham A . Molecular epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron BA.2 sub-lineage in Denmark, 29 November 2021 to 2 January 2022. Euro Surveill. 2022; 27(10). PMC: 8915403. DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.10.2200181. View

12.

Rahimi F, Talebi Bezmin Abadi A . The Omicron subvariant BA.2: Birth of a new challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Surg. 2022; 99:106261. PMC: 8837492. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2022.106261. View

13.

Sromicki J, Schmiady M, Maisano F, Mestres C . ECMO therapy in COVID-19: An experience from Zurich. J Card Surg. 2020; 36(5):1707-1712. DOI: 10.1111/jocs.15147. View

14.

Mohapatra R, Kandi V, Verma S, Dhama K . Challenges of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant and Its Lineages: A Global Perspective. Chembiochem. 2022; 23(9):e202200059. PMC: 9083815. DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202200059. View

15.

Wibmer C, Ayres F, Hermanus T, Madzivhandila M, Kgagudi P, Oosthuysen B . SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 escapes neutralization by South African COVID-19 donor plasma. Nat Med. 2021; 27(4):622-625. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01285-x. View

16.

Rajpal V, Sharma S, Kumar A, Chand S, Joshi L, Chandra A . "Is Omicron mild"? Testing this narrative with the mutational landscape of its three lineages and response to existing vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. J Med Virol. 2022; 94(8):3521-3539. PMC: 9088584. DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27749. View

17.

Nussbaumer-Streit B, Mayr V, Dobrescu A, Chapman A, Persad E, Klerings I . Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021; 9:CD013574. PMC: 8133397. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013574.pub2. View

18.

Andersen K, Rambaut A, Lipkin W, Holmes E, Garry R . The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2. Nat Med. 2020; 26(4):450-452. PMC: 7095063. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9. View

19.

Menni C, Valdes A, Polidori L, Antonelli M, Penamakuri S, Nogal A . Symptom prevalence, duration, and risk of hospital admission in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 during periods of omicron and delta variant dominance: a prospective observational study from the ZOE COVID Study. Lancet. 2022; 399(10335):1618-1624. PMC: 8989396. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00327-0. View

20.

Meng B, Abdullahi A, Ferreira I, Goonawardane N, Saito A, Kimura I . Altered TMPRSS2 usage by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron impacts infectivity and fusogenicity. Nature. 2022; 603(7902):706-714. PMC: 8942856. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04474-x. View