Expect the covid pyrola virus to come here

The highly mutated new Covid-19 BA.2.86 virus is causing some concern among health authorities and researcher.

WHO has it Omicron BA.2.86 variable under special control, VUM, variable under control.

Swedish too Public Health Authority It states that it additionally adheres to BA.2.86 at the global and national levels.

You have received the boom One explanation, nicknamed “pyrrola” in the media, is that “pi” and “rho” come after “omicron” in the Greek alphabet. One of Jupiter’s asteroids bears the same name.

WHO names only variables of particular interest. In the next step, the logical name will be pi.

More than 36 new mutations

The reason for this interest is that pyrrola contains an unusually high number of mutations in the spike protein.

The spike protein helps the virus We get into the cells.

The COVID-19 virus contains 36 mutations compared to the Omicron XBB1.5 variant.

The latter is most common in Sweden now, According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Virologist answers

Ali Mirazamy Leading virologist at Karolinska Institutet, K.IAnd Norwegian Veterinary Institute, SVA. The pharmacologist called and asked five questions about pyrrola.

Will we get Perola in Sweden?

– So far no infection has been found here. Perhaps we can count on Perola’s success here as well. It is already available in many countries, such as Denmark, Great Britain, Iceland and the United States. But you can never be sure. However, we do not know how widespread the virus is. There are other factors that influence.

How dangerous is pyrrola?

– We don’t know that yet. There is still no indication that it causes more serious disease. But we must remember that the number of cases so far is small.

So why is there such concern? The Norwegian Public Health Authority believes that the amount of mutations can confer advantages on the spread of Pyrola.

Yes, the worry is that too many mutations make it easier for it to successfully bypass the immune system, whether you’ve been vaccinated or been infected before. If the body does not recognize the virus, it spreads more easily.

How common is the covid-perula virus?

– There are a lot of differences. Today we do not know which tribe will be dominant. Some come and go, and it depends on many different things.

– If the virus did If you are really sick, it spreads less, just stay home and don’t infect others. On the other hand, if you get a little sick, that’s another matter. Do not lose activity but you can move around and spread the infection.

Even a mild disease can become serious in some sensitive groups. Therefore it is very important to protect the elderly. We have to make sure not to miss the vaccination at the right time, because protection wanes faster in the elderly.

Does the updated vaccine provide better protection against BA.2.86/pirola?

We know very little about BA2.86, and therefore even less about how effective the new vaccine is at protecting against BA2.86. But all previous vaccinations provide good protection against serious diseases caused by all other variants!