The pirola variant of the Covid-19 virus is advancing in Belgium. While it is more infectious than the previous sub-variants, experts have stressed that it does not cause any other symptoms – contrary to some reports.
The pirola strain – also called the BA.2.86 variant – is a descendant of the so-called Omicron family, explains the Sciensano National Health Institute. Currently, JN.1 (a subvariant of pirola) is dominant.
"We see in the sewage water that we are in the second largest Covid-19 wave ever in our country," said Marc Van Ranst, professor of virology at KU Leuven and head of laboratory medicine at UZ Leuven.
"Many Covid patients are in intensive care, but often they end up there and then it turns out they have Covid; they do not end up there because of Covid. The good news is that our healthcare system is not currently overburdened as was in 2020 and 2021."
'Nonsense' reports
Among GPs and hospitals, the number of flu-like complaints is rising and Covid rates remain high. "Lab tests show that the pirola sub-variant currently accounts for more than half of the infections in Belgium; you can really see the variant breaking through."
According to reports by Dutch media, pirola – more than the other variants – can cause eye lesions, facial rash, diarrhoea and fatigue. "I have also read about those watery eyes, skin rashes and that women would get it more than men, but I do not believe that at all," said Van Ranst. He downplays the particularity between variants: "Most people don't even know which subvariant they have. In the end, it remains Omicron, which is why I do not expect any major changes from before."
Sciensano virologist Steven Van Gucht agrees that 'pirola' is similar to the previous variants of Covid. He also called the other symptoms reported by Dutch media "nonsense" and assured that in most cases "the symptoms are quite mild" though occasionally infection can lead to severe pneumonia.
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Still, that does not mean that pirola is not very infectious, he told Het Belang van Limburg. "Being more infectious is something that new variants have in common, because otherwise they would not win from the previous variant. This is a known pattern in respiratory viruses, which can continue to survive and circulate thanks to gradual mutations. But all in all, the severity of infections is not alarming."
Currently, there are more patients with Covid than with flu in hospitals, but that ratio could reverse in the coming weeks, said Van Gucht. While the numbers of Covid infections are still rising slightly and seem to be stabilising at a high level, 'regular' flu in particular is on the rise.
"What we are seeing is that the number of consultations for flu and flu-like symptoms with GPs is increasing," he said. "And I expect that those figures will continue to rise. For flu, we are sure the numbers will still go up sharply, up to times five. We are only at the beginning of the flu epidemic, expected to peak in late January or early February."
