"BA.2.75 Has Lower Transmission Than BA.5... No Domestic Death or Severe Cases Reported"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Among the domestic infection cases of the BA.2.75 variant, known as 'Kentauros,' no confirmed cases have progressed to severe illness or death. The health authorities have judged that BA.2.75 has lower transmissibility than BA.5.

On the 20th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced the general characteristics and transmissibility evaluation results of 152 confirmed domestic Omicron sublineage BA.2.75 infections identified so far. A total of 152 BA.2.75 confirmed cases (detection rate 1.3%) were identified from July 13 to August 13, and the variant showed a slower rate of spread compared to the BA.5 variant.

Park Young-jun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, "There are several indicators to measure transmissibility, including laboratory-based and epidemiological measurements. The analysis results indicate that there is no evidence epidemiologically that BA.2.75 transmits faster than BA.5, and generally, it can be interpreted as having a slower transmission speed."

When the health authorities analyzed the secondary attack rate among household members whose follow-up period ended among confirmed BA.2.75 cases, additional transmission was confirmed in 12 out of 38 households (31.6%). The secondary attack rate among household members was 24.3% (18 out of 74 people). The secondary attack rate for BA.5 was 27.8% (80 out of 288 people), indicating that BA.2.75 has a relatively lower secondary attack rate.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters explained that all domestic BA.2.75 confirmed patients recovered after receiving home treatment as of the 17th, and there were no cases of severe illness or death.

Additionally, BA.2.75 confirmed cases were more common in males (65.5%) than females, and mainly infected people in their 20s and 30s (45.1%). Regarding infection regions, non-metropolitan areas (51.3%) showed higher rates, and imported cases from overseas (82.3%) were more frequent than domestic infections.

Lim Sook-young, head of the Situation Management Division at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained the analysis results by saying, "In conclusion, there is no confirmed tendency for BA.2.75 variant to have higher transmissibility or severity compared to the BA.5 variant."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.