A new sub-variant of Omicron, the BF.7, has caught on in China. We take stock of the contagiousness and dangerousness of this strain of coronavirus, which is also found in France.
The list of variants is growing. If some are no longer spoken about, it’s because others have taken over, like BF.7. In China, since the lifting of the health measures in early December of the very strict and notorious “zero Covid” policy, the number of cases has exploded and the numbers have panicked precisely because of this new sub-variant of Omicron.
First sighted in Belgium on May 13th, then in India, in France, in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark, this strain, a subline of BA.5, became a majority in Beijing earlier this month. Do we need to worry about this?
Virulent and transmissible
Judging by its characteristics, it could well be the descendant of Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant more virulent and transmissiblesays Antoine Flahaut, epidemiologist and director of the Geneva Institute of Global Health, in an interview with Actu.fr.
“BF.7 would have an R0 [taux de reproduction, NDLR] from June 10th to 18th This means thatAn infected person transmits the virus to 10 to 18.6 other people on averagecompared to an average of 5.08 for Omicron,” he explained on Twitter.
Also the BF.7 “would escape vaccination-acquired immunityin terms of transmission and mild forms,” says the epidemiologist.
2/9 – “But what is this new variant and should we be concerned? Although reports from China on the characteristics of this variant are worrying, it does not appear to be growing too much elsewhere in the world.”
— Antoine FLAHULT (@FLAHULT) December 16, 2022
What are the symptoms of BF.7?
They resemble other tribes. “Patients may have Fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and tiredness‘ details Antoine Flahault. “A minority of people may also experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.”
Could BF.7 become the majority in France?
According to the Cov-Spectrum tool developed by Gisaid (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data), which groups data on viral strains at an international level, the share of BF.7 in sequencing in France is in sharp decline. At its highest level, on October 17, this variant accounted for 10.78% of sequencing in France, against 0.99%according to the latest data as of December 12th.
Still, as Christian Bréchot, virologist and president of the Global Virus Network quoted by Sud Ouest, says: “A pandemic is a global, global problem. We cannot argue in French-French. What happens in China is bound to impact global health in one way or another..”
Another cause for concern: “80% of the active ingredients, the raw material for our medicines, are manufactured in China and India,” recalled Rémi Salomon, President of the Medical Commission of the AP-HP, on Twitter. There is a problem, however: the contamination is hampering manufacturing and economic activity in China, which could directly affect exports to the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, medical professionals recommend not prescribing unnecessary antibiotics to conserve supplies. It is also recommended to use barrier gestures to avoid winter diseases that require many medications.
80% of the active ingredients, the raw materials for our medicines, are manufactured in China and India.
The Covid wave that is currently sweeping China is likely to exacerbate our supply difficulties for many medicines.Production has to be relocated.
— Remi Solomon (@RemiSalomon) December 24, 2022