BA.5 and BA.4.6 continue US rises, kids' illnesses increaseTwo Omicron SARS-CoV-2 subvariants—BA.5 and BA.4.6—increased their predominance last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest update.
It estimated that BA.5 makes up 88.7% of sequenced samples, up slightly from 88.2% the week before, and BA.4.6 accounted for 7.5% of samples, up from 6.7% the previous week.The southern Midwestern region that includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska continue to have the highest proportion of BA.4.6, averaging 17.2%.
Eastern states are also seeing increasing proportions.In other developments, pediatric COVID cases increased last week after declining for 2 weeks in a row, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in its latest weekly update.
About 86,600 cases were reported for the week ending Aug 25. Levels have fluctuated over the summer, and school has already resumed in some parts of the country.In international developments, COVID-19 is still circulating widely in Europe and hospitalized about 3,000 people last week, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) European regional office said today at a briefing.