SZwanglos – Following Feed

R to @snpoehlm:

The BA.3.2* frequency in Western Australia might mirror that to be expected for several European countries 🇦🇺. Cave: recent n is extremely low.

Steep decline in BA.3.2* frequency in Ireland 🇮🇪.

New sequences from Germany 🇩🇪 confirm the trend: Marked decline in BA.3.2* frequency. #BA32

Uptick of BA.3.2* frequency in New Zealand 🇳🇿

GISAID is not working properly (extremely slow) since yesterday - does anybody have the same problem?

COVID’s origins: what we do and don’t know https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00530-y

52 new sequences from Bavaria, Germany 🇩🇪 - only one is BA.3.2*. The November/December wave appears to be broken. The key question now: will the variant persist at low levels or fade out completely? #BA32

BA.3.2* detected for the first time in Malaysia 🇲🇾 Lineage: RE.1.1 (n=2) EPI_ISL_20370887, EPI_ISL_20370885 #BA32

Still doubting BA.3.2’s ability to dominate (I have)? It’s already at ~80% frequency in Norway 🇳🇴. #BA32

Eine neue Studie von Walach et al. (2025) behauptet: Nur etwa 14 % der positiven PCR‑Tests in Deutschland hätten einer „echten“ SARS‑CoV‑2‑Infektion entsprochen. Das wäre epidemiologisch gravierend. Kann das stimmen? TL;DR: Nein. #PCR #COVID19 Einordnung🧵⬇️ 1/16

Concerning but not unexpected…,

It's interesting that England's population "Healthy Life Expectancy" has fallen significantly since 2020... https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/healthstatelifeexpectanciesuk/between2011to2013and2022to2024

R to @snpoehlm: And is this decrease not observed in the UK because the variant has already spread more widely across the population? #BA32

R to @snpoehlm: If a disproportionate share of BA.3.2* infections occurs in children, could the recent unexpected decline in BA.3.2 frequency in Germany, other European countries and parts of Australia simply reflect winter (Europe) / summer (Australia) school holidays?

Some speculations regarding BA.3.2* infections in children:

R to @snpoehlm: There may be a link between the recent uptick in COVID incidence among young children in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the marked increase in BA.3.2* frequency in these countries.

I am also rather baffled. One thought is that "European" BA.3.2.2.2 (RE.2) got its earliest start in Germany & quickly ran through sub-set of susceptible population, so its "sub-wave" is genuinely now declining. Would love to know immune history of those who did catch BA 3.2.

The marked uptick of BA.3.2* frequency in France 🇫🇷has been confirmed by new sequences. #BA32

R to @snpoehlm: x.com/_CatintheHat/status/20…

R to @snpoehlm: x.com/gwladwr/status/2024813…

The posts below show a recent uptick in COVID cases among young children in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This uptick is paralleled by a marked increase in BA.3.2* frequency, suggesting the two may be linked.

R to @snpoehlm: It will be interesting to see whether a similar rise in cases is observed in other European countries, or mainly in those with increasing BA.3.2* frequency. #BA32 #COVID19

The rise in frequency of BA.3.2* in Northern Ireland 🇬🇧 in January is paralleled by an increase in COVID cases among young children - see figure and post by @Gwladwr below. Same situation as reported by @_CatintheHat for England and Scotland. #BA32

Part 2: A highly interesting and concerning trend: the strong increase in BA.3.2* frequency in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 appears to be paralleled by a marked rise in COVID incidence among the very young. Worth close monitoring. #BA32

Thanks to vigilant @gwladwr. Why are Scottish KIDS all of a sudden making up larger proportion of COVID hospitalizations in Scotland? My thought: timing co-incident with rise of RE.2 (BA3.2.2.2). This suggests especially high incidence of BA.3.2 in KIDS. [Or higher severity]