What should you know about the COVID cicada variant?
The Seattle Times • • health
Key Points:
- A new COVID-19 variant called cicada (BA.3.2), a mutation of the omicron branch, shows reduced susceptibility to the 2025-2026 vaccine and tends to infect younger people more than older individuals.
- Cicada has been detected in 23 countries and in wastewater from 25 U.S. states, though low testing rates may underreport its true prevalence.
- The variant generally causes milder illness compared to other strains, with Maryland reporting significant drops in hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 and related respiratory illnesses.
- Data indicates children and youths under 18 are five times more likely to be infected by cicada, accounting for 63.4% of cases versus 11.9% for other variants.
- Indiana schoolteacher and amateur tracker Ryan Hisner, whose data is respected by experts like virologist Jesse Bloom, has been instrumental in providing detailed information on cicada's spread and characteristics.
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