An Omicron sub-variant - known as BA.2 - is circulating rapidly in many European countries and is suspected to have been confirmed in our country as well.
In a press release at the end of March, the Minister of Health, Ogerta Manastirliu, said that samples were being evaluated to identify the Omicron variant.
"A sub-variant of Omicron BA.2 is circulating in various countries, mainly European countries, where there is an increasing trend today of cases of infections, because it has a very high transmissibility. What is being noticed is that vaccination, especially the third dose, helps to reduce severe cases and reduce hospitalizations and fatalities. Currently in Albania we do not have confirmed cases yet. "But of course we are continuing through our active surveillance and evaluating the samples that come to the Institute of Public Health, to take them to the reference laboratories," said Manastirliu.
Yesterday, A2CNN reported that the Institute of Public Health has received the results of the analysis from the Berlin laboratory, which has identified the first cases of this mutation in our country.
Similar to a cold
"So far, we're seeing it's really similar to the original Omicron variant in terms of symptoms and severity," Dr told HuffPost. Erica Johnson, a physician at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
So, like the original Omicron strain (BA.1), the main symptoms of a mild infection are:
- cough
- fever
- fatigue
- may lose taste or smell
- may have skin rash
Dr. Jennifer Lighter, an infectious disease specialist, noted that many patients with Omicron develop upper respiratory tract symptoms:
- cough
- runny nose
- sore throat
According to Lighter, BA.2 also appears to target the upper respiratory tract. From the data available so far, BA.2, like BA.1, tends to cause less serious illness. Vaccination also affects this point, as it significantly reduces the chances of getting seriously ill.
