By Caitlin Tilley, Health Correspondent for Dailymail.Com
16:00 08 Jan 2024, Updated 17:43 08 Jan 2024
- Ohio State University found that BA.2.86 can efficiently infect lung cells
- JN.1, a native of BA.2.86, is responsible for more than 3 out of 5 cases of covid
- Read more: Has covid become constipated? Scientists say ‘possible’
A new strain of Covid-19 behind a resurgence in hospital admissions may be more deadly than previously thought, research suggests.
BA.2.86 — or ‘Pirola’ — is a mutation in the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant and is the ancestor of the currently dominant JN.1, responsible for more than three out of five Covid cases since January 6.
Both strains have about 60 protein mutations from the original coronavirus and more than 30 from other Omicron variants such as BA.2 and XBB.1.5.
A new study at Ohio State University found that BA.2.86 can infect cells in the lower lungs and penetrate cell membranes more than other versions of Omicron.
The study’s senior author, Dr Shan Lu Liu, professor of virology at Ohio State University, said the findings were ‘worrisome’.
“The concern is whether this variant, as well as its progeny including JN.1, will have the same propensity to infect human lung epithelial cells as the parent virus that started the 2020 pandemic,” he said.
In laboratory tests, the researchers found that BA.2.86 is more efficient in infecting people in the lower lungs.
Upper respiratory tract infections, including colds and sore throats, affect the throat and sinuses.
Lower respiratory tract infections, on the other hand, are more severe because they last longer and affect the airways and lungs.
They include bronchitis and pneumonia, with symptoms including a chronic cough and difficulty breathing.
The researchers wrote: ‘BA.2.86 may have a tendency to use a plasma membrane pathway as opposed to an endosomal entry pathway.’
This means that BA.2.86 enters cells more effectively by directly penetrating the cell membrane rather than binding to the cell surface and collecting receptors.
The experiments were carried out using pseudoviruses – a non-infectious part of the virus surrounded by various covid spike proteins to match known differences on the surface.
“We need to confirm these findings using the real virus,” said Dr. Liu.
However, from our previous experience, we know that infection in human epithelial cell lines provides very valuable information.
He added: “This raises concerns as to whether or not this virus is more pathogenic than recent omicron variants.”
Although laboratory tests indicate that BA.2.86 is more severe, this is not reflected in official data.
BA.2.86 began circulating in the US in August 2023, but since then, the death toll from Covid has remained very low. In the year In the last week of 2023, the CDC estimated that 839 people had died from the virus.
For comparison, in the last week of 2022, 3,658 died from Covid.
Hospitalizations have increased since BA.2.86 came into place in August 2023 – but are still significantly lower than in previous years.
In the first week of September 2023, there were 20,699 Covid hospitalizations in the US, up from 6,487 in the first week of July.
In the year There were 34,798 Covid hospitalizations in the US in the week ending December 30, compared to 44,542 in December 2022.
In the year During the outbreak in January 2022, 150,650 people died in a week.
The Ohio State researchers also found that the bivalent booster vaccine was effective at killing BA.2.86, which explains why the strain did not cause as big a storm as previously feared.
In a separate trial, researchers analyzed antibodies in blood samples from healthcare workers and first responders with Covid during the XBB.1.5 wave who received three monovalent Covid vaccines, two monovalent vaccines and one bivalent booster.
They compared the antibody’s ability to protect against infection with BA.2.86, the original Covid virus, a XBB-derived variant known as Flip, and several omicron variants.
Ohio State researchers found that antibodies from healthcare workers who took higher doses were more effective at neutralizing antibodies. BA.2.86 than those that have been eliminating other Omicron variants including XBB.1.5.
In contrast, the three monovalent vaccines and prior XBB.1.5 infection were less effective in inhibiting infection with BA.2.86.
The study was published in the journal Cell.