Symptoms of Pirola, the new covid variant, and how long they last now, in January 2024

The Spanish Ministry of Health, through its Health Alert and Emergency Coordination Center, provides biweekly updates on the epidemiological situation of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the country. This frequency was set on February 20, from the current week until July 2023. Let us remind you that on May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) canceled the international emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic, declared since January 30, 2020.given the marked decline in serious cases and deaths worldwide.

Nevertheless, In recent weeks there has been a clear increase in the number of cases, which does not escape the logic of what the scientific community foresees., given the general deterioration of weather conditions due to the approach of winter, which until now has been more reminiscent of autumn. The Carlos III Institute of Health, in its latest report “Sentinel Surveillance of Acute Respiratory Infection in Primary Health Care (ARI) and Hospitals (SARI): Influenza, Covid-19 and RSV,” highlights the increasing percentage of positive results for SARS-CoV. 2 from 10.6% (9.6% in the previous week), while for influenza it decreases to 41.4% (44.6% in the previous week), and for RSV – to 6% (9.9% the previous week). The SARS-CoV-2 variant identified to the greatest extent in ARI cases in primary care is XBB.1.5 (once called Kraken) +L455F+F456L (30.07%), followed by XBB.1.5+F456L (29.41%) and B.A. 0.2.86 (25.82%). The predominant variant in recent weeks has been BA.2.86 (82.35%), called Pirola.

Omicron continues to account for 100% of cases and was the predominant variant in the first half of the year, XBB.1.5, which was classified as a variant of concern by WHO on 9 August. Except, The highest incidence of BA.2.86 has been recorded in recent weeks, although the WHO alert level remains low. WHO discovered BA.2.86 on August 18. and includes so many mutations that it has been classified as a line under surveillance.

Current covid symptoms and their duration

The most common symptoms of people infected with these lineages are:

Currently, there is a high incidence of this symptomatology, which is in many ways similar to the flu and colds.

Dr. Luis Miguel García, vice-president of the Aragonese Society of Family and Community Medicine, clarifies that currently PCR or antigen tests are practically not carried out in medical centers, so patients do them at home. “Colds and Covid now co-exist and the same treatment is being used as until now.”

The above symptoms are observed for 4–5 days during the rise of the infection and another 4 days during the decline, although there are also those that refuse to leave the affected body: “the cough persists for 2–3 weeks as a symptom.” infections,” the doctor notes.

Additional data on the BA.2.86 covid variant

Latest report on WHO, according to variant BA.2.86, speaks of its presence in at least 46 countries, with a slow but continuous increase in prevalence. The immunized population remains highly resistant to the infection and therefore there are no concerns about its impact on public health systems. BA.2.86 was classified as a variant under surveillance (VUM) on August 17, mainly due to its numerous mutations, with up to 3,267 cataloged on November 20. The largest number of detected sequences of this variant have been reported in the UK, followed by France, Sweden, Spain, Canada, Denmark and the USA.