( Health Times reporter Kong Tianjiao and Zhao Mengmeng) Following the first BF.7 local new crown infection reported by Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on September 28, according to the "Shaoguan Release" in Guangdong Province on October 9, a major chain in Shaoguan, Guangdong is the evolution branch of BF.7 mutant strain BF.7.
BF.7 variant has been popular in other countries and regions before. WHO issued a warning that BF.7 is spreading around the world and "may become the global mainstream within a few weeks."
In the early morning of October 8, staff from Shaoguan City were disinfecting foreign items. "Shaoguan Release" picture
Li Shujian, deputy director of the Shaoguan Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Guangdong, introduced at the press conference that the evolutionary branch of the Omickron mutant strain BF.7 is stronger than other strains, and is very likely to cause large-scale transmission. The difficulty of handling and controlling the epidemic has increased exponentially than before. Studies have shown that BF.7 may be the mutant strain with the strongest immune escape ability so far.
"According to the characteristics of BF.7, if decisive prevention and control measures are not taken in time, it is likely to become the mainstream mutant strain in my country in the future." On October 9, Yu Chuanhua, professor of epidemiological and health statistics at Wuhan University, told the Health Times reporter, "The Omickron variant strain BF.7 is the abbreviation of BA.5.2.1.7 and is considered to be the third generation subtype derived from the Omickron BA.5 variant strain. BF.7 adds the receptor-binding domain RBD mutation R346T on the basis of BA.4/5, which makes BF.7 have stronger immune escape ability than BA.5, The effects of various existing vaccines and the antibodies induced by previous infections have a certain impact. "
" However, immune protection not only relies on antibodies, but also related to cellular immunity and immune memory. The effectiveness of existing vaccines to prevent severe illness and death still maintains a high level. my country's vaccine still has a good protective effect on severe illness and death caused by Omickron variant strain ."
Health Times found that as early as September 23, the British Coventry Telegraph reported that the new variant strain BF.7 is spreading rapidly in Belgium , Germany, France, Denmark and the United States. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 data monitoring found that since the start of monitoring, the percentage of strains of BF.7 has increased to 4.6% in the short term, becoming the third largest mutant strain in the United States to detect the new coronavirus. In addition, in Europe, BF.7 accounts for 25% of the infected people in Belgium; Germany, France and Denmark account for about 10%.
United States National Institutes of Health research scholar and doctor of immunology Wang Yuge also pointed out in an interview with the Health Times that BF.7 adds the receptor-binding domain RBD mutation R346T on the basis of BA.4/5, which can further escape the neutralizing antibodies induced by BA.5 infection. Therefore, it is likely to become a popular mutant strain this fall and winter.
Yuchuan Huaxiang Health Times added that BF.7 also has the characteristics of strong contagiousness and concealment of transmission, and is mostly asymptomatic and mildly infected people. It is easy to "sneak" in the population. If nucleic acid test is not carried out in time and repeatedly, it is likely to cause the epidemic to spread quickly. Therefore, timely and repeatedly nucleic acid tests are needed in the short term to detect positive virus, and residents need to actively cooperate with the current prevention and control measures.
