The latest COVID-19 numbers in California are good news, but rising cases in Europe may be an indication that another pandemic wave could break this spring.
Dr. Robert Siegel, professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University, told KCBS Radio's "Ask An Expert" that the increasing cases can be explained for a number of reasons.
"We're starting to see the new variant, BA.2, take over from BA.1 all over the world. Over 20% of the cases are being attributed to BA.2," he said.
Siegel explained that the virus waves follow human behavior. "What we saw in the U.S. is that Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, back to school all signaled increases in the levels of omicron BA.1," he said. "What you've seen in Europe is you’ve seen an increase in the dropping of mandates and less use of masks and things like that, and that has signaled the recent increase."
A second reason for the uptick in cases is that the BA.2 variant is more contagious than BA.1, Siegel added.
If you're vaccinated your risk for contracting a severe BA.2 infection is greatly reduced. However, people should still try to avoid an acute infection, as even an acute infection can lead to long-term symptoms, he advised.
"You're putting yourself at risk for long-term consequences, things that are related to your heart and your brain and I'm predicting there are also going to be findings for the lungs and the kidney and the G.I. tract," Siegel said. "I think it's useful to still use pertinent measures, when you're in a crowd to still wear a mask and things like that."
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