Among the Covid variants, the one that is of most concern today is BF.7: it has a higher contagion index and a greater speed of spread
Posted on: 02/01/2023 13:33
PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST
Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Palermo. Professional journalist since 2006. Joined Virgilio Notice after various journalistic experiences between Palermo and Milan. I am mainly interested in news, politics and economics. Sometimes I write a book.
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High alert for the new Covid variants and sub-variants. It’s currently in the limelight Gripping and Cerberusboth belong to the Omicron 5 family. But that’s not all: there is also and above all the variant BF.7that has brought China to its knees.
Covid why the variant BF.7 is dangerous
One of the frontline doctors in the fight against the BF.7 variant is Li Tongzeng of the Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital. dr In an interview with the Global Times newspaper, Tongzeng explained why this latest variant has raised the alert level.
BF.7, said Li Tongzeng, “has a increased ability to escape immunitya shorter incubation period It is a faster transmission speed“. Simply put, it’s faster and meaner.
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And not only that: one of the factors that make a variant more or less dangerous is that R0 parametersie the average number of further infections caused by each infected individual.
Dr. The R0 index specified by Tongzeng is between 10 and 18 for the BF.7 variant and is therefore significantly higher than, for example, the index between 5 and 6 of the Delta variant.
Symptoms of option BF.7
The symptoms of BF.7 variant infection are similar to those of the other Omicron subvariants. THE main symptoms they are fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and fatigue.
Photo source: ANSA
Gut symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea have also been observed in some subjects.
The BF.7 variant of the world
BF.7 is currently growing strongly in Chinaespecially in Beijing and Shanghai.
BF.7 has crossed the borders of China and is also present in China India, United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and France.
The situation outside of China is currently under control. In fact, BF.7 is in a slight decline in some regions of the world: La Repubblica newspaper reports an incidence that has fallen from 6.6% to 5.7% in the US, and also in the UK.
‘Republic’ also reports on one of the professor’s considerations Manuel MohammedMicrobiologist at the University of Westminster, according to which the spread of BF.7 is also responsiblevery high number of asymptomatic positives. That makes it harder to keep the pandemic under control.
In Italy, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci has ordered screening at airports to identify BF.7 and Gryphon.
All updates in real time on the Viaggiasicuri.it website managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Image source: iSTOCK