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Alabama – A new COVID-19 variant has been identified. The Omicron sub-variant, being called ‘Stealth Omicron’ or BA.2, has been reported in at least 40 countries around the globe and multiple states in the U.S.
Ba.2 is on the Alabama Department of Public Health’s radar. ADPH Spokesperson, Dr. Karen Landers, says the “stealth” nickname only refers to the way it’s identified in testing.
“We don’t want to give this variant, this sub-variant, more credit than it deserves right now, ” Dr. Landers said. “Because this term ‘stealth’ has come into play, we really want people to remember that really doesn’t have anything to do with how the virus acts, but rather just a way that the laboratory tasting on large PCR platforms picked up other variants.”
She says people infected with the variant will still test positive for COVID-19, but determining which variant it is takes further testing through sequencing. Either way for a patient, it’s still COVID.
Here’s what doctors in Alabama have learned about BA.2 so far.
“It appears to be quite transmissible, and we are still looking at whether or not the disease, the symptomatology, is any more than what we have seen with other cases of Omicron,” she said.
Dr. Jodie Dionne, an infectious disease doctor at UAB, says it’s too early to tell what the future of the variant will hold.
“It’s hard to know yet if BA.2 is going to take over and become the next variant. The World Health Organization watches all these variants very closely and they haven’t yet called it a ‘variant of concern’. When they do that means they are seeing it in a high proportion in a lot of countries,” said Dr. Doinne.
She says sometimes variants fizzle out quickly. But they can also cause a surge like Delta. Dr. Ali Hassoun, an infectious disease specialist at Huntsville Hospital, also points out variants can also be resistant to treatments.
“There’s chances where the variant and the mutation make it harder to treat. So, that available treatment, like for example the Omicron, some of the monoclonal antibodies didn’t work anymore,” said Dr. Hassoun.
Doctors say being vaccinated continues to be a vital part of combating COVID-19 and preventing future variants.
So far, BA.2 has not been found in Alabama.
ADPH is continuing to send virus samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine which variants are present in the state. UAB also conducts sequencing to identify variants.
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