As inevitable, researcher and virologist Robert Pollino sees the entry and circulation of the new EG.5 type of Covid-19, which has been declared of interest by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is present in countries such as the United States. , England, France, China and Japan.
Paulino based his report on the influx of tourists in recent months and the continued travel of Dominicans to other countries. “Obviously there’s no possibility it won’t come, obviously at some point we’re going to put it into circulation,” he said.
One of the characteristics of this new sub-variant, he said, is that it can infect people previously infected with the virus and vaccinated with the first-generation vaccines used in the Dominican Republic.
Epidemiological and genetic monitoring of the virus is important to be proactive to detect new sub-variants, the expert sees.
EG.5 is a sub-variant of the Omicron family, which is part of the XBB strain, and despite increasing the number of Covid-19 infections, it is highly infectious and able to evade the immune system, it does not cause malignant disease like the others, it is less fatal, according to the WHO. transforms into a variant.
The Dominican researcher says that what is known so far about this sub-variant is that many of its mutations are associated with intracellular receptor binding, therefore increasing its transmissibility.
Virus
They can infiltrate again
in the country.
Paulino explained that this sub-variant has the ability to evade and neutralize pre-made antibodies, which means that people infected with the Covid-19 virus can become infected again and even those vaccinated with the first-generation vaccines, therefore, the country will see an increase in cases anytime soon. He estimates that the country should have second-generation vaccines.