New Covid wave UK

Scientists tell Sky News that it is getting harder to predict how the UK will fare with different COVID variants because of 'immune imprinting', ...

"We're about to see the number of Omicron deaths overtake Delta - even though it is less likely to cause severe disease. But it has been completely different to the one experienced in Portugal - where death rates were much higher. "This speaks to the idea that as time goes on it's going to get more and more difficult to predict how countries will fare with one variant or another," he says. "That's because we have a different pattern of immunity - we're in a new era now where that is really important." But Dr English adds: "We shouldn't be complacent, rates are going up quite quickly here - and in the US. Dr Griffin adds: "The reason these variants are spreading still is because the pool of people they can infect is growing - because people who have already been infected can be infected again." "It's whereby if you are infected with an earlier variant and produce an immune response to it, when you're infected with a new variant, your body essentially produces the original immune response, which is the wrong one, because it doesn't realise it's a new variant, which needs a different immune response. "We're beginning to see signs that this is the case with these new Omicron sub-variants. COVID-19: Is the UK on the brink of a new wave – and is 'immune imprinting' to blame? So with infection rates on the rise and more chance of reinfection - should we be worried? It was most noticeable in England and Northern Ireland, where the positivity rate is one in every 70 people and one in every 65 people respectively. Scientists tell Sky News that it is getting harder to predict how the UK will fare with different COVID variants because of 'immune imprinting', which means everyone's immune system reacts to them differently depending on their specific infection and vaccine history.

Variants have a degree of “immune escape”, meaning the immune system can no longer recognise or fight a virus.

Date from the University of Tokyo in Japan suggested BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 may refavour infecting lung cells, rather than upper respiratory tract tissue, the Guardian reported. Patient numbers in both nations had previously been on a steady downwards trend since early April, following the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. The early signs of a rise comes from a jump in infections from Omicron variant BA.1 as well as newer variants BA.4 and BA.5. The Guardian reports that in South Africa, BA.4 and BA.5 have been responsible for a second wave of Omicron infections beginning at the start of May, although this appears to be flattening off now. Omicron BA.1 is the original variant of Omicron that caused a surge in infections across the UK in December and early January. BA.4 and BA.5 are newer variants that were recently classified by the UK Health Security Agency as “variants of concern”, after analysis found both were likely to have a “growth advantage” over BA.2, which is still the dominant strain in the country. All four nations have seen a slight rise in the prevalence of the virus, though the Office for National Statistics describes the trend in Scotland and Wales as “uncertain”. The Guardian reports the variants may have evolved to make them more dangerous by refavouring infecting lung tissue.

With Covid restrictions lifted in the UK with an almost complete return to 'normal' life, could these latest Omicron subtypes fuel another spike in cases ...

Omicron BA.1 is the original variant of Omicron that caused a surge in infections across the UK in December and early January. BA.4 and BA.5 are newer variants that were recently classified by the UK Health Security Agency as “variants of concern”, after analysis found both were likely to have a “growth advantage” over BA.2, which is still the dominant strain in the country. Initial findings suggest BA.4 and BA.5 have a degree of “immune escape”, meaning the immune system can no longer recognise or fight a virus, which is likely to contribute to their growth advantage over BA.2, the UKHSA said. According to reports, the early signs of a rise comes from a jump in infections from Omicron variant BA.1 as well as newer variants BA.4 and BA.5.

New Covid variants are poised to create a new wave of coronavirus cases across the UK. The early signs come from a jump in infections from Omicron variant ...

Date from the University of Tokyo in Japan suggested BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 may refavour infecting lung cells, rather than upper respiratory tract tissue, the Guardian reported. Patient numbers in both nations had previously been on a steady downwards trend since early April, following the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. Omicron BA.1 is the original variant of Omicron that caused a surge in infections across the UK in December and early January. BA.4 and BA.5 are newer variants that were recently classified by the UK Health Security Agency as “variants of concern”, after analysis found both were likely to have a “growth advantage” over BA.2, which is still the dominant strain in the country. A total of 989,800 people in private households in the UK are estimated to have had the virus in the week ending June 2, up from 953,900 the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the first time total infections have risen week-on-week since the end of March, when the number hit a record 4.9 million at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. All four nations have seen a slight rise in the prevalence of the virus, though the Office for National Statistics describes the trend in Scotland and Wales as “uncertain”. The variants may have evolved to make them more dangerous by refavouring infecting lung tissue, reports The Guardian. New Covid variants are poised to create a new wave of coronavirus cases across the UK. The early signs come from a jump in infections from Omicron variant BA.1 - as well as newer variants BA.4 and BA.5.

AROUND a fifth of adults in Portsmouth have still not received a coronavirus vaccine, figures suggest – one year after they were all offered the chance to get ...

Now hopefully it won’t be as high as the previous two waves and might be lower. But we can’t count on that and either way we are going to see more people becoming infected.’ It comes as Covid-19 infections in the UK have risen for the first time in two months, new data has revealed.

It comes as coronavirus infections in the UK have risen for the first time in two months.

Initial findings suggest BA.4 and BA.5 have a degree of “immune escape”, meaning the immune system can no longer recognise or fight a virus, which is likely to contribute to their growth advantage over BA.2, the UKHSA said. Patient numbers across the UK remain well below the peaks reached during previous waves of the virus. Independent SAGE scientist Professor Christina Pagel has warned there are four variants of Omicron "all increasing rapidly" at the moment, whereas the previous wave in March had two variants. Many of those are compatible with the Omicron variant BA.1 and newer variants BA.4 and BA.5. The variants may have evolved to make them more dangerous by re-favouring infecting lung tissue, The Guardian reports. What's happened is that people don't want to look, and we're kind of closing our eyes to it.

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend earlier this month may have contributed to the rising cases of coronavirus infections being recorded ...

I suspect the immunity is much more important and has a much bigger impact." "Is it because it is innately more aggressive? He said: "There will be more infections, I would expect that there would be waves of people being unwell, sort of mass sickness," he said, describing a worst case scenario. Or are the symptoms that we see in people, which are really what matters, down to waning immunity, for example. He added that another lockdown would be unlikely, unless there was a "jump in the biology of the virus" and it became more resistant to immunity or more aggressive in creating disease. However Dr Simon Clarke says it is too early to tell what impact it will have on hospitalisations, and more specifically on intensive care admissions.

The early signs of a rise comes from a jump in infections from Omicron variant BA.1 as well as newer variants BA.4 and BA.5. All four nations have seen a slight ...

The Guardian reports that in South Africa, BA.4 and BA.5 have been responsible for a second wave of Omicron infections beginning at the start of May, although this appears to be flattening off now. Date from the University of Tokyo in Japan suggested BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 may refavour infecting lung cells, rather than upper respiratory tract tissue, the Guardian reported. Initial findings suggest BA.4 and BA.5 have a degree of “immune escape”, meaning the immune system can no longer recognise or fight a virus, which is likely to contribute to their growth advantage over BA.2, the UKHSA said. Patient numbers across the UK remain well below the peaks reached during previous waves of the virus. The Guardian reports the variants may have evolved to make them more dangerous by refavouring infecting lung tissue. Patient numbers in both nations had previously been on a steady downwards trend since early April, following the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave.