What is the new ‘Hellhound’ Covid variant?

Just when you thought the worst was over…

What is the new «Hellhound» Covid-19 variant?

It will be the dominant strain by December.

Carolina Darias, Spain’s Minister of Health announced that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 will be the dominant strains of Covid-19 by late November or early December, according to ABC. This new variant is known as «Hellhound».

Darias reported that these variants are growing at a rapid rate in several European countries, including Spain, where the Minister of Health is from. There, they account for 27 percent of the cases at the moment, according to reports from the Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias (CCAES), published on Monday. BA.4 and BA.5 are still the dominant ones.

The Hellhound variant will be dominant soon

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Carolina Darias reported that it is estimated that this new Hellhound variant will be dominant by the end of this month or early December, according to reports from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention last October 20. But that’s not all.

The ECDC designated the BQ.1 lineage and its sublineages, including BQ.1.1, as variants of interest. The mutations that define these lineages have been related to the degree of evasion of the immune response and at the moment there are no indications that any of these lineages is related to a greater severity of cases.

Why is this variant called «Hellhound»?

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It should be noted that this new variant of Covid-19 has not only set off alarms in Europe, but also in the United States, where the Hellhound already represents 11 percent of registered cases. In Europe, it was detected in a considerable percentage of the Covid tests collected in early October, according to El Financiero.

But why was this variant given this nickname? It began spreading on social media as cases of Covid-19 caused by the BQ.1 subvariant began to rise. It’s named after the gatekeeper of Hades, a three-headed monster whose task was to guard the doors to the Greek underworld.

What are the symptoms of this variant?

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Symptoms of Hellhound aren’t very different from previous variants. Infected people will begin to feel a sore throat, cough, general malaise, hoarseness, diarrhea and runny nose, According to AS.

You can take measures to protect yourself by washing your hands, masking indoors and in crowded spaces, cover your nose and mouth when sneezing, use hand sanitizer, avoid touching your eyes with dirty hands and take a Covid test if you experience symptoms. (Filed as: Hellhound Covid variant)

Hellhound is between 10 and 30 percent more contagious than previous variants

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Experts say the Hellhound variant is between 10 and 30 percent more contagious than previous variants BA.4 and BA.5. Proceso reported that there are three new symptoms: loss of appetite, hoarseness and tachycardia, according to immunologist and professor, Alfredo Corell.

Cornelius Roemer, a researcher at the University of Basel, shared the following on social media: “BQ.1.1 is showing a lot of growth, especially in England, where the first sample was sent 9 days ago and now there are 28 sequences . I hope there is some kind of biased sampling. Otherwise, this does not look good.” With information from ABC, El Financiero, ACE and Proceso. (Filed As: Hellhound Covid Variant)