WHO advises not to change public health measures to combat new Omicron strain

The World Health Organization (WHO) doesn't advise any change in the public health response to deal with Omicron BA.5 - BF.7 sublineage, Report informs citing WHO.

"In other words, it’s highly transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant, and is able to escape built-up immunity. As it is similar to other Omicron variants, at the moment WHO doesn't advise any change in the public health response to deal with this specific variant," the WHO noted.

According to WHO, as of 20 December, over 50 000 sequences of BA.5 have been reported from close to 90 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile, Healthnews noted that BF.7 has been detected in the US, Belgium, UK, China, India and other European countries, and causes similar symptoms to the other Omicron sublineages, such as fever, cough, and sore throat. In rare cases, patients may experience vomiting and diarrhea.

In October, the UK health officials called BF.7 sublineage one of the “most concerning variants in terms of both growth and neutralization data at present.” However, the technical briefing from November says that BF.7 growth rates in the UK were low, Healthnews added.