The number of Covid cases has tripled! Sekler: Omicron subvariants are transmitted up to 19 times faster

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The number of people infected with coronavirus has tripled in Serbia in the last two weeks, and Dr. Milanko Sekler,a virologist and microbiologist from the Veterinary Institute in Kraljevo, says that one of the reasons is that the subvariants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, which are more contagious than previous strains, have appeared.

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It's the vacation season, but unfortunately, the virus is traveling, too. For more than two years already. It does not need a passport, nor a special deal. It passes from person to person. In recent days, it has reminded us that it hasn't left and won't any time soon. There are more and more newly infected people in Serbia. In the last two weeks, the number of new cases has tripled. There are also more patients receiving hospital treatment.

Dr. Sekler says that the number of people infected with coronavirus is increasing due to the appearance of two new subvariants of the Omicron strain, BA.4 and BA.5, which are transmitted up to 19 times faster than the previous Omicron strain. Dr. Sekler also says that for now there is no information that these strains present more severe clinical symptoms, that is, that they are more pathogenic. He also adds that one of the reasons for the increase in the number of patients is the increased number of contacts between people, reports Novosti.

"It's interesting that this strain, when it appeared in South Africa, mostly infected younger people, and when it appeared in Portugal it was mostly older people, over 65 years old. The reason may be the percentage of those vaccinated," says Sekler.

He stressed that the number of infected people in Serbia is not increasing drastically, and that the number of patients who are hospitalized, that is, who are on ventilators or who have died, does not follow, there is no proportional increase.

"The most important thing for us is that not even a fifth, maybe not even a tenth of the capacity in hospitals is filled. I think there is no reason to fear, because the best equipped hospitals and ready are empty," he says and adds that the number of newly infected people in Serbia will "definitely increase."

Sekler says that because it is summer, the number of contacts between people has increased, which is why there is a higher number of cases, and that the weather "suits coronavirus."

"As a rule, this time of year should not suit it, but it does because the number of contacts has increased, and there are also new strains. It also helps the virus that many people did not receive the third vaccine at the end of last year," explains Dr. Milanko Sekler.

He stressed that vaccines still protect against coronavirus and that they completely prevent hospitalization, that is, that the clinical picture is milder if infection occurs.

"It has not happened that the vaccine does not work 100 percent. Its effectiveness has been reduced, they say, by six to eight times for BA.4 and BA.5. In practice, it's not as scary as it sounds. If someone was vaccinated with the fourth dose they have an increase in the number of antibodies several tens of times," stressed Sekler.

(Telegraf.rs)