New COVID-19 subvariant is easier to neutralize but may be better at infecting lungs

Jacy Shilot
Wed, 24 Jan 2024 02:21:33 +0000
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According to recent research, COVID-19 omicron subvariant BA.2.86 is easier to neutralize but can infect the lungs. Credit: Lantern File Photo

A recent study by Ohio State researchers shows that a new omicron subvariant of COVID-19 can be neutralized by the dual-strain vaccine, preventing the worldwide escalation of cases that was initially feared.

However, BA.2.86, the subvariant studied, can quickly infect and fuse with human lung cells, potentially making the disease more severe than other variants.

The researchers analyzed the antibodies of health care workers who had different levels of immunity through blood samples, according to Shan-Lu Liu, a senior author of the study and a professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity. Health care workers who only received the single-strain, or monovalent, vaccines were compared to those who received a dual-strain, or bivalent, booster and those who had natural immunity after being infected with the XBB.1.5 strain, another descendant of the omicron variant.

“The monovalent vaccines were the shots that we got the first three times. They only have the original SARS-CoV-2 spike in them,” Julia Faraone, an author of the study and a Ph.D. student in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology program, said. “Whereas the bivalent one has that original spike in it, and it has the BA.5 variant spike.”

Although the antibodies from the monovalent vaccines and natural immunity were not effective against BA.2.86, the antibodies created by the bivalent vaccine were more effective at neutralizing the strain, including the new strain containing XBB.1.5, Liu said.

The BA.2.86 strain concerned researchers in the beginning, who feared that the COVID-19 vaccines were not able to neutralize the strain due to its mutations.?

“BA.2.86 has more than 60 mutations compared to the original omicron variant,” Liu said. “Given so many mutations, we thought that there were going to be huge problems for the vaccine.”?

Although there are fewer concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy, there are concerns about the strain’s pathogenic abilities. The researchers used a pseudovirus — a noninfectious, lab-created virus created from the spike proteins of different SARS-CoV-2 strains — to test the pathogenesis, or how infection leads to disease, of BA.2.86.

“If you look at the CDC data, the U.S. cases of death increased 2 ?-fold in December 2023,” Liu said. “A lot of cases of infection could be due to the increased pathogenesis.”?

Despite finding that the strain was more efficient at infecting human lung cells by using the pseudovirus, there is not enough evidence to determine if BA.2.86 is pathogenic or not, Faraone said. A vast majority of viruses are not infectious to humans.?

If a virus has higher fusion rates, it can infect human cells at a faster rate, thus making it more infectious and pathogenic.

“We have seen in the past a correlation between higher fusion and higher pathogenicity, but it’s a correlation in the end,” Faraone said. “We can only say that this needs to be investigated more with a live virus.”

With the bivalent vaccine’s success against the subvariant, Faraone advised people to get their COVID-19 boosters.?

“People, please go out and get the new vaccine,” Faraone said. “I know people are over it at this point. They don’t want to talk about COVID anymore, but it really helps getting those shots.”