The researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found in a study that new variants that emerge may be more transmissible and may more effectively bypass the immune protection from prior infection or vaccination.
A new study by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Israel, published in the New England Journal of Medicine,
found that the newer Omicron sub variants of coronavirus substantially escape neutralising antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection.
What The Study Found?The researchers from BIDMC evaluated antibody response to multiple SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants in 27 vaccinated and boosted individuals and 27 individuals who had previously contracted COVID-19.
What The Study Found?It was found that three Omicron subvariants– BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5– substantially escape neutralising antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection.
What The Study Found?As per the study, the neutralising antibody responses to BA.4 and BA.5 were approximately 20-fold lower than to the original WA1/2020 strain and were 3-fold lower than to the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants.
What Did Researchers Conclude?According to the researches, the study provided the immunologic context for current surges among populations with high rates of vaccinations and previous infection.
“Our findings suggest that the Omicron variants have continued to evolve,” said study senior author Dan H Barouch, director of the Center for Vaccine and Virology Research at BIDMC.
“This has important public health implications and provides the immunologic context for current surges among populations with high rates of vaccinations and previous infection,” Barouch added.
“This has important public health implications and provides the immunologic context for current surges among populations with high rates of vaccinations and previous infection,” Barouch added.