Short Wave - BA.5: The Omicron Subvariant Driving Up Cases — And Reinfections

Episode Date: July 12, 2022

BA.5 is now the dominant SARS-CoV-2 subvariant in the United States. It's driving up COVID cases and hospitalizations across the country. It's also causing quicker reinfections. More people appear to be contracting the virus multiple times in relatively quick succession. Today, host Emily Kwong talks with science correspondent Allison Aubrey about this dominant subvariant: What it means for mask mandates, "long COVID" — and why infectious disease experts think this wave will be more manageable than last winter's surge.Got COVID questions? Email the show at [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, shortwavers. Emily Kwong here. Our mainstay health correspondent Alison Aubrey is with me. What is up, Allison? Hi, Emily. It's good to be here. Hey, it is another day in the pandemic, which is still ongoing. When it comes to COVID transmission and new variants, I hear the big player these days is BA5. That's right.

This is a sub-variant of Omicron. and it is now dominant in the U.S. The BA5, the most contagious version of the virus yet, now dominant, making up more than 50% of new cases. And while there is... Many experts say this new strain of the virus, BA5, is changing the playing field under our feet as we try. The CDC reports the BA5 sub-variant is the most dominant in the U.S. now, with new cases and hospitalizations, forcing some cities to reconsider mask mandates. And Emily, with cases rising Los Angeles, is the most dominant.

now considering whether to reinstate its mask mandate. And in New York, the health department is now recommending that people mask up in public places. To be honest, Alison, I never really put my mask away in the first place. I carry it. Because in the city where I live, businesses can still require people to use masks indoors. And that is certainly the norm in our workplace here at NPR headquarters in D.C. And BA5's quick rise corresponds with an increase, not just in hospitalizations, but also reinfections. Today on the show, a look at the most dominant Omicron sub-variant in the U.S. right now. What it can mean for reinfections, long COVID, and whether you keep your mask on.

I'm Emily Kwong. And I'm Alison Aubrey. And you are listening to Shortwave, the Daily Science Podcast from NPR. Okay, Allison, tell us about BA5. From what I've heard, it's causing another surge in COVID cases, but we're not exactly sure how many cases. Why is that? Well, if you think about it, I mean, a lot of things. of people are using the rapid at-home tests. And so this just makes it hard to know how many people

are infected. A lot of people, when they're taking a rapid test, they get their results, change what they're doing if they need to, but they're not necessarily reporting those results to their local health officials, right? That's right. When I had COVID last month, I called my primary care doctor. I said, hey, I've got a positive result. And they basically said, you know, okay. I wanted it noted in my health record, but this is not something that my primary care doctors are tracking or reporting up. And so since many of us are not getting PCR tests to confirm a positive at-home test just makes it trickier to know the infection rate in any given place. Right, because it's those positive PCR tests, which are lab-based, that are reported up to the CDC. That's right. So are

other ways to tell if there is a surge? Well, one indicator is hospitalization data. Right now, hospitalizations are rising. About 31,000 people are in the hospital with COVID around the country. New admissions are up about 5% over last week. And reinfections are also on the rise. According to some updated data from New York, for instance, reinfections began to rise again beginning mid to late June. So some people who got COVID this winter are getting it again, which can be a real surprise to people who thought they had good immunity. Not only is it, more infectious, but your prior immunity doesn't count for as much as it used to. I spoke to Bob walked her about this. He's a physician at UC San Francisco. He says, look, BA5 is highly transmissible,

and it manages to kind of sidestep, at least partially, some of the immunity we have from prior infections and vaccinations. That means that the old saw that I just had COVID a month ago, and so I have COVID immunity superpowers. I'm not going to get it again. That no longer holes. Wow. I didn't realize this. This is a really important thing to know about BA5. It makes me want to wear my mask more. And speaking as someone who just had COVID last month, I'm paying attention to this because I was pretty miserable for several days, so I don't want to get it again. Absolutely. Alison, speaking of reinfections, if that happens to you, if you get COVID again, what can you expect this time around? What are doctors seeing with BA5? Well, there's no evidence that

BA5 would cause more serious illness, even though it is very contagious. The bottom line is that the impact of a BA5 surge or whatever sub-variant might come next, it will not likely be on the scale of what we saw last winter. We will be able to manage it better. That is the consensus I hear when I talk to infectious disease experts, including Anna Durbin. She's a physician at Johns Hopkins University. She says, look, we're already seeing this. The combination of infections and vaccinations is protective and the treatments are better. So even though there are a lot of people getting infected, there are fewer people dying. I mean, last winter we had about 3,000 deaths a day. Now the U.S. is averaging about 300. Most people have some underlying immunity that is helpful in fighting

the virus. We have antivirals. And I think because of that, we're not seeing a rise in deaths. and that's very reassuring. That tells me that this virus, even BA5, is not so divergent that it is escaping all arms of the immune system. And she says, look, as more children are vaccinated and as new boosters become available, boosters that specifically target Omocron, this will all be helpful. I mean, these boosters won't halt infections or reinfections completely. But all along, it's been shown that these vaccines and these boosts, do help prevent serious illness and death.

Alison, something that's also lurking in the back of my brain is just long COVID. What do we know about the long-term consequences of BA5? There is new data to show that those who've had COVID more than once may have an elevated risk of long COVID symptoms. I spoke to Dr. Zad Al-A-Lalee of the Veterans Affairs St. Louis health care system. He did this big study analyzing lots and lots of medical records. identified thousands of cases of reinfection, and he saw a wide range of problems diagnosed in the months that followed. Some respiratory conditions, you know, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue,

you know, brain fog, and a lot of other conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease. So even if you're vaccinated, it's still best, it's absolutely best, to avoid the infection. So even if it seems really unfashionable and unpopular to wear a mask, there's a lot of BA5 out there. and he says it's worth it to protect yourself. You know, take steps to reduce your exposure. This is very good take-home advice, Allison. I actually bought some cute masks recently so I can be fashionable and protected. All right. I look forward to seeing those in the office.

I will rock them for you. I will. Thank you so much for bringing us this reporting. Good to be here. This episode was produced by Margaret Serino. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Rachel Carlson. Our senior supervising editor is Giselle Grayson. Terrence Samuel is vice president and executive editor. Edith Chapin is vice president and executive editor at large.

And Nancy Barnes is our senior vice president of news. I'm Emily Kwong. Thank you so much for listening to Shorewave, the Daily Science podcast from NPR.