CCP Virus BA.5 Variant Composes Higher Infection Rate Than BA.2

The latest research shows that the CCP virus omicron subvariant BA.5, which is currently prevalent in Japan, may be “more likely to increase the virus in the lungs” than the previously mainstream CCP virus variant BA.2.

Professor Kei Sato and his colleagues at the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo conducted experiments using human lung cells. They found that the virus of the Omicron strain BA.5 was 18.3 times higher than BA.2. It has been said that the Omicron strain grows in the trachea and is unlikely to become severe, but BA.5 strain may easily proliferate in the lungs.

Professor Kei Sato also said that BA.5 has a characteristic mutation called L452R that the Delta strain had. Therefore, the new strain of Omicron has acquired the same characteristics of lung hyperplasia as the Delta strain. Experiments in hamsters related to this also showed that viral infections in the lungs also increased. In addition to infectivity, the new strain may also be highly pathogenic.

What is worrying is that the number of infections in Japan has increased significantly in the last two days. The number of infections in Tokyo on July 10th (Monday) was 9,482, an increase of 5,694 compared to last Monday. Although the two-dose vaccination rate in Japan is 62.08%, the number of infections is still rising, which fully proves the ineffectiveness of the CCP virus vaccine.