Over 50 cases of an Omicron subvariant have been found in the UK.
The Covid BA.2 subvariant is reportedly outpacing other Omicron-derived strains in some countries such as Denmark.
It has now been labelled 'Stealth Omicron' by experts, due to the fact that it cannot be differentiated from other strains using a standard PCR test.
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As reported by Hull Live, Omicron has three primary subvariants according to the World Health Organization (WHO): BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3.
The UK Health Security Agency, a UK Government agency responsible for public health protection and and infectious disease capability, wrote on Twitter: "The number of BA.2 cases is currently low, with the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, still dominant in the UK and further analyses will now be undertaken."
A spokesperson stated: "As of January 10 2022, 53 sequences of the BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron had been identified in the United Kingdom.
"This sub-lineage, which was designated by Pangolin on 6 December 2021, does not have the spike gene deletion at 69-70 that causes S-gene target failure (SGTF), which has previously been used as a proxy to detect cases of Omicron. UKHSA are continuing to monitor data on the BA.2 sub-lineage closely."
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It is thought that the BA.2 substrain may be outpacing BA.1 in Denmark, but early research has indicated that infection and hospitalisation rates are consistent between the two variants.
The Stealth Omicron strain has reportedly increased from 20% to 45% of cases in Denmark, with 30,000 new cases confirmed each day.
Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut said: “Initial analysis shows no differences in hospitalisations for BA.2 compared to BA.1. It is expected that vaccines also have an effect against severe illness upon BA.2 infection.”
Scientists have revealed that there is believed to be 28 mutations in BA.2 as compared with BA.1.
Mutations are what change the behaviour of a particular variant, altering how infectious of deadly it is.
