últimas notícias

South African researchers did not have information on the severity of the first illness compared with the second. But the immune system should be able to prevent most severe symptoms in people who had a previous infection or have been immunized, Dr. Iwasaki said.

“I suspect, and I’m hopeful, that these aren’t all going to result in severe disease,” she said. “Maybe there are lots of infections, but they may be milder.”

The Gauteng province in South Africa is now the epicenter of what scientists say is the country’s fourth wave of infections. The week-on-week increase in hospital admissions is already higher than in previous waves, according to data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa.

“Gauteng was absolutely clobbered by the Delta wave only five months ago, so there’s no doubt that this variant is causing significant numbers of reinfections, due to that fact alone,” said Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.

The percentage of children younger than 5 among total cases has also risen sharply — second only to those over 60 — but that may be because more adults are immunized now than in previous waves.

Pediatricians are also admitting more children to hospitals, but mostly as a precautionary measure, said Dr. Waasila Jassat, a public health specialist at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

“Later in the wave, they wouldn’t meet the criteria for admission,” Dr. Jassat said. Most hospitalized children are unvaccinated, she said, and live with parents who have also not been immunized.

Lynsey Chutel contributed reporting from South Africa.