'Centaurus': What you need to know about this Omicron subvariant
Another subvariant of the COVID-19 Omicron strain has been detected in the Philippines and has raised concern and confusion due to its astronomical nickname, Centaurus. What is this subvariant and how does it differ from the others?
BA.275, also known as Centaurus, was first detected in India in early May and has since been found in 10 countries including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Germany, and Canada.
The Department of Health announced on Aug. 2 that the strain was found in two cases from Western Visayas who have already recovered.
Its moniker, however, isn't the variant's official name and is just a product of popularity on social media.
So far, it has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as a variant under monitoring.
What is BA.2.75?
The BA.2.75 is a sublineage of the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, which triggered outbreaks in the US and Hong Kong early in the year.
According to research from the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Interactive Biology in New Delhi, Centaurus has nine unique changes in the spike protein, which has raised concerns among researchers.
One of the mutations, G446S, is said to allow the virus to escape immunity. Data, however, are still preliminary. Another mutation, R493Q, is said to increase the virus' ability to attach to human cells. WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said there are limited sequences available to analyze.
Symptoms of Centaurus are believed to be similar to previous Omicron variants, which include sore throat, headache, blocked nose, cough, fatigue, muscle pains, fever, chills, shortness of breath, and a loss or change of sense of smell or taste.
Experts say that vaccines and boosters still offer strong protection against severe cases of COVID-19.
"Some may say, ‘Well, vaccination and boosting hasn’t prevented people from getting infected.’ And, yes, that is true, but what we have seen is that the rates of people ending up in the hospital and dying have significantly decreased," Mayo Clinic director of clinical virology Matthew Binnicker told NBC.
"As more people have been vaccinated, boosted, or naturally infected, we are starting to see the background levels of immunity worldwide creep up," he added.