The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the coronavirus are more aggressive, with a greater capacity for contagion and new symptoms
They are the protagonists of the new wave of infections. The novel coronavirus subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, known as
Covid-22, were spotted at the beginning of the year in South Africa and since then their expansion around the world has found no brakes. So much so that they already represent the majority of infections in the world today. An expansion that is favored by a greater contagion capacity than Ómicron and that presents new symptoms among those infected.
The main differences between these new BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are that they are more aggressive, with more contagious ability and more symptoms. This is confirmed to IDEAL by Robert Tellez, emergency doctor at Vithas Hospital in Granada, who admits that in recent weeks the cases of coronavirus reaching primary care have increased, although in most cases they have symptoms ” light”.
“The new variants have more contagious capacity but the symptoms last less since they generally disappear after 5 days”, details the doctor, who despite this increase in cases explains that he has not observed an excessive increase in admissions of patients with covid and that “everything is under control”. In fact, he insists that the main symptom for going to the doctor remains the same: shortness of breath. “If this specific symptom appears, it may be a sign that there are complications.”
The new symptoms of the coronavirus
Regarding the most common symptoms today of so-called covid-22, Tellez explains that what they observe the most are sore throat, fever and feeling tired. Although other symptoms such as general malaise, joint and muscle pain, excess mucus and sneezing are also common. “There are also cases where they complain of fatigue but don’t have a fever or a sore throat despite testing positive.”
“The newer variants have a more contagious ability but the symptoms last less since they usually disappear after 5 days”
Robert Tellez
Emergency physician at Hospital Vithas Granada
The expert recalls that during the initial phase of the pandemic, the main characteristic of the coronavirus was that a sore throat and fever appeared but it did not produce nasal mucus, which has now changed. “The virus has transformed little by little and now it is presenting itself with new symptoms”, which is why they must update practically daily and be attentive to new directives from the Ministry of Health.
As for the contagion itself, Tellez acknowledges that it is difficult to track how patients who test positive become infected, although he acknowledges that now the speed of contagion is higher. “The important thing is that the vaccination continues to work and whereas before there was a lot of mortality, now it has been reduced to almost 0 despite these new variants”, concludes the emergency doctor at Vithas Granada Hospital.