LOS ANGELES — With California suffering through another intense coronavirus wave, the stunning proliferation of the BA.5 subvariant is becoming a growing focus of scientific scrutiny, with experts saying it may replicate itself far more effectively than earlier versions of omicron.
Compared to its ancestors, the latest omicron subvariant, BA.5, may have an enhanced ability to create a large number of copies of the coronavirus once it gets into human cells, a possible contributing factor for why this summer’s omicron wave has been problematic.
BA.5, which in the estimation of federal health officials is currently the dominant version of the coronavirus nationwide, is arguably combining aspects of last summer’s delta variant with older versions of the highly contagious omicron family, said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla.
