Spain faces a new wave of: the seventh. The new variants have caused infections to increase significantly in recent weeks.
The latest report from the Ministry of Health has estimated the new cases reported in our country at more than 52,000.
But keep in mind that this is not a real number.
The new pandemic surveillance model only registers infections in people over 60 years of age, from which the information is obtained. cumulative incidencewhich stands at 841 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Hospital pressure, although nothing like what we have had in other waves, is also having an impact.
4.93% of the beds in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) are occupied by patients diagnosed with COVID.
But, what is the escalation of infections due to?
The BA.4 and BA.5 lineages are largely responsible for the upward curve.
According to the report by the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), BA.5 is already the predominant lineage in most of the autonomous communities, with the exception of Castilla-La Mancha and the Canary Islands.
It is such that there are already experts who speak of a new disease: COVID-22. This has been stated, for example, by (Sermas), Antonio Zapatero.
The current coronavirus is very different from the disease that emerged on December 31, 2019 in the capital of Hubei province, wuhanin central China (1,177.2 kilometers from Beijing).
The doctor Marcos Lopez Hoyospresident of the Spanish Immunology Society and head of the immunology service at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, explains that “today, SARS-CoV-2 produces a viral infection, as if it were a cold, and less aggressive.
Among the reasons, the high percentage of vaccination of the population, which in Spain exceeds 93% (in people over 12 years of age with a complete regimen). However, “it is mutating into more infective forms.”
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“BA.5 is a variant that escapes the antibodies produced by BA.1 and BA.2 infections. Now, we also know that the disease is not serious.”
BA.5, more infectious, but less aggressive?
The specialist points out that the advance of the variant, which emerged in South Africa and has caused thousands of infections in Portugal, where they are now in a downward phase both in cases and in hospital occupancy “is a good sign.”
“The virus is not becoming more aggressive and the vaccines are protecting us from the disease. However, it is causing a greater number of infections and with more hospital admissions, not in the ICU, of patients due to decompensation of chronic pathologies and morbidities.
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“Although we hope that the virus will become a viral-type infection, like the flu, it should not be ruled out that at any given time it could cause an increase in hospitalizations.”
Taking reference to other countries such as the aforementioned, Portugal, or the United Kingdom, where BA.5 is already the predominant variant, it is known that it infects more easily, although does not produce a more serious clinical picture. In this country, infections have increased by 23% in just seven days.
Fourth dose: For everyone?
Currently, the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine is only indicated for immunosuppressed people, that is, diagnosed with cancer, transplanted or over 40 years of age with Down Syndrome.
The president of the Spanish Society of Immunology believes that we should wait “until autumn” to see how the pandemic evolves.
“In any case, it would be convenient with vaccine models other than those that have been applied so far”
In the long term, believes the specialist, “it is feasible” that it will be necessary a booster dose every yearas occurs with the vaccine against , especially in the most vulnerable population: the elderly, immunosuppressed and with previous pathologies.
The fact of administering a fourth dose, however, would not generate a lesser protective effect. “There is no evidence that it makes us less tolerant of the disease.”
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“We know that the infection is not controlled by vaccinesbut the masks and the isolation of people infected with COVID ”.
For this reason, López Hoyos is committed to recovering the masks indoors, since “it is a measure that should not be forgotten and even more so at times with a higher concentration of the virus, so they must continue to be worn on public transport, hospitals and even in the malls”.