Covid variant BA.2.86 symptoms - 4 signs of new Pirola variant to look out for
A new Covid variant seen in five different US states so far has raised concerns as health experts work to track it.
Variant BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, has drawn comparisons to the Omiron variant which spread rapidly in late 2021. In an update, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said scientists are now "evaluating how previous immunity from vaccinations or past infections protect against this new variant".
Health experts will be conducting tests to see how effective antibodies are in limiting the effects of the new variant. So far, antibodies and other parts of the body's immune system "have been less affected by viral evolution and are not predicted to have decreased activity against BA.2.86."
Despite its nickname, the virus is currently considered as a variant of Omicron, but this will change should it begin to spread more rapidly.
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Pirola is not yet a designated variant of concern (Getty Images/Westend61)So far, cases in the US have been spotted in Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio and New York. So what should people be on the lookout for?
What are the symptoms of Pirola?
So far, there does not appear to have been any observed symptoms that are out of the ordinary when it comes to Covid.
The key signs are what you might expect from Covid, including:
- Sore throat
- Cough (with or without phlegm)
- Headaches
- Runny or blocked nose
FDA spokesperson James McKinney said to CBS that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes so far that current Covid tests will be effective in detecting Pirola.
The FDA said it currently believes Covid tests can detect Pirola (Getty Images)"The agency will update this page when significant new information becomes available, including when the FDA's analyses identify tests for which performance may be impacted for known SARS-CoV-2 variants," McKinney said.
Should we be concerned about Pirola?
It is too early to tell if Pirola will develop into something widespread and dominant, but there is some concern over the number of mutations. BA.2.86 has 36 mutations and research is focused on if this means some parts of the immune system built up against previous variants will continue to protect against Pirola.
The CDC said it is "too soon to know" if Pirola will be more severe than previous variants.
Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on Covid for the World Health Organisation (WHO), said: "We will use a Greek letter when we have a variant of concern and we won't hesitate to use those Greek letters should they be needed."
"It is unusual for corona to change so significantly and develop 30 new mutations," Morten Rasmussen, a senior researcher at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, said in a statement on August 18. "The last time we saw such a big change was when omicron appeared."
SSI's Executive Vice President for Epidemiological Infectious Disease Preparedness, Tyra Grove Krause, added: "It is clear that we react when we see something completely new, that is the job. But none of the three preliminary cases have had symptoms other than those normally seen in the course of Covid-19. We also have a strong expectation that the vaccines - also with this variant - will provide good protection against serious disease"
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