Coronavirus Scientific Committee Member Şener warns of “Pirola variant”
Prof. Dr. Alper Şener, Member of the Coronavirus Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Health, said that Pirola (BA.2.86), the corona virus variant monitored by the World Health Organization, may be a variant that has the possibility of becoming dominant and escaping the vaccine.
Prof. Alper Şener, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Izmir Katip Çelebi University Faculty of Medicine, stated that the Pirola variant, which came to the agenda after Eris (EG.5.1), started to be called “super variant” in scientific circles.
Stating that there are hypotheses that the antibodies formed in the body with the vaccine cannot stop the Pirola variant, Şener said, “It seems likely that the Pirola variant is a variant that escapes the vaccine and is likely to become prominent and dominant among other variants.”
“GET TESTED IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS”
Stating that there is no information that the Pirola variant increases mortality or hospitalization rates, but it is very important to follow the process, Şener continued as follows:
“In some countries, including our country, people mostly do not go to hospitals and do not have any tests when they have complaints about the Covid-19 outbreak. The symptoms are the same in the Pirola variant. If our citizens have several symptoms such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, loss of taste and smell, diarrhea and weakness, muscle and joint pain, they should apply to any health institution and have a PCR test. If the test is positive, they should at least determine the time of the disease for themselves.”
“TESTING IS IMPORTANT FOR VACCINATION”
Noting that they expect “vaccination for variants” or “changes in vaccination schedules” to be on the agenda in the world in the coming period, Şener said:
“In the process of these changes, we evaluate whether vaccination is necessary for any patient by looking at whether the patient has had a Covid-19 infection in the last 6 months. If the person has had a Covid-19 infection in the last 6 months, they do not need to be vaccinated for the fall and winter period. If he or she has not had any tests for this, he or she may be faced with an unnecessary vaccination, a situation we call ‘re-triggering of immunity’.”
