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In the field of Medical Technology, Biomedical Equipment refers to those devices intended for medical and surgical care, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. The purpose of these devices is the automation of clinical processes,such as the control of vital signs, respiratory monitoring and spirometry or electrosurgery. Besides, they are used to apply new methods of therapy, such as microwaves, ultrasounds or magnet therapy. In addition, biomedical equipment is used in laboratories for sample analysis, bacterial culture, freeze-dried dehydration or separation of substances by electrolysis. The future of Biomedical Equipment focuses on the search for the highest possible quality of life for patients, the design of autonomous clinical processes with which reliable and safe results are obtained, in addition to developing technological advances in chemical synthesis and biological analysis equipment. Another trend of biomedical equipment is their control by computer, electronic medical records and telemedicine.

It Has a Growth Advantage The WHO risk evaluation determined that EG.5 has a moderate growth advantage. The variant was first reported to the WHO in February, and its share of reported sequences has increased steadily since then. Its global prevalence more than doubled this summer, from about 8% the week ending June 25 to about 17% the week ending July 23. It was not yet globally ascendant at press time, based on the most recent data available. An August 10 epidemiological update from the WHO noted that XBB.1.16 was the most prevalent variant around the world during the week ending July 23, representing a quarter of virus sequences. XBB.1.5 was on the decline, accounting for about 13% of sequences. But EG.5.1, a subvariant that represents most EG.5 sequences, has a higher effective reproduction number than those XBB variants, according to a study posted to the preprint server bioRxiv, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. This finding suggests that EG.5 and its sublineages could predominant “in the near future,” virologist Kei Sato, PhD, senior author of the study and a professor at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo in Japan, wrote in an email to JAMA. EG.5 is already the fastest growing variant in several areas of the world. In the US, it and its sublineages likely overtook both XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.5 by early August, per projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It Has Antibody Escape Properties EG.5 is descended from XBB.1.9.2, an Omicron offspring with the same spike protein as XBB.1.5, the variant targeted by the forthcoming vaccines. But unlike those variants, EG.5 has the spike protein mutation F456L, which in laboratory experiments allowed it to evade most XBB.1.5-neutralizing antibodies. The EG.5.1 subvariant, which accounts for 88% of available EG.5 sequences, contains an additional spike protein mutation, Q52H. The F456L mutation appears to be especially important, Sato and others said. “F456L in particular has come up repeatedly in descendants of XBB.1.5 and may make it slightly less susceptible to antibodies in previously vaccinated and/or infected people,” Nicole Doria-Rose, PhD, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff scientist, said in an email. F456L may also be linked to transmissibility, noted Doria-Rose, who is chief of the Humoral Immunology Core at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center. Based on the current data, the WHO has classified EG.5′s antibody escape risk as moderate. The report cautioned, however, that the immune escape results are based on studies from a single laboratory using pseudotyped, not wild-type, viruses, and that additional experiments are needed to further assess how well EG.5 thwarts existing antibodies. It’s Unclear Whether It’s Driving the COVID Wave In the US, COVID-19 test positivity, wastewater levels, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths are all rising, based on CDC data through the first week of August. However, it’s unclear to what extent EG.5 could be driving the current wave. Sato said waning immunity from vaccinations and previous infections could be contributing. It’s also important to note that hospitalizations and deaths in the US are still drastically lower than this time last year. Carlos del Rio, MD, a distinguished professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said he’s “somewhat concerned” about current increase in hospitalizations, which he attributes mostly to XBB variants. “However,” he wrote in an email, “I also know if people are boosted, it is very unlikely they will end up hospitalized when infected.” There’s No Indication It’s More Severe So far there are no reports that EG.5 causes more severe COVID-19 cases, leading the WHO to classify its level of risk for severe disease as low. “Several countries with rising EG.5 prevalence have seen increases in cases and hospitalizations, although at present there is no evidence of an increase in disease severity directly associated with EG.5,” the report noted. Doria-Rose explained that EG.5 might be linked to the current increase in COVID-19 cases, and therefore hospitalizations, “based on its transmissibility, not its severity.” There are caveats to the WHO risk assessment, though. Global reporting of new hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions has fallen off substantially, so the WHO said it’s best to be cautious when interpreting the data on severe cases. And it said that more studies are needed to investigate the variant’s effect on clinical outcomes.

It Has a Growth Advantage The WHO risk evaluation determined that EG.5 has a moderate growth advantage. The variant was first reported to the WHO in February, and its share of reported sequences has increased steadily since then. Its global prevalence more than doubled this summer, from about 8% the week ending June 25 to about 17% the week ending July 23. It was not yet globally ascendant at press time, based on the most recent data available. An August 10 epidemiological update from the WHO noted that XBB.1.16 was the most prevalent variant around the world during the week ending July 23, representing a quarter of virus sequences. XBB.1.5 was on the decline, accounting for about 13% of sequences. But EG.5.1, a subvariant that represents most EG.5 sequences, has a higher effective reproduction number than those XBB variants, according to a study posted to the preprint server bioRxiv, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. This finding suggests that EG.5 and its sublineages could predominant “in the near future,” virologist Kei Sato, PhD, senior author of the study and a professor at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo in Japan, wrote in an email to JAMA. EG.5 is already the fastest growing variant in several areas of the world. In the US, it and its sublineages likely overtook both XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.5 by early August, per projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It Has Antibody Escape Properties EG.5 is descended from XBB.1.9.2, an Omicron offspring with the same spike protein as XBB.1.5, the variant targeted by the forthcoming vaccines. But unlike those variants, EG.5 has the spike protein mutation F456L, which in laboratory experiments allowed it to evade most XBB.1.5-neutralizing antibodies. The EG.5.1 subvariant, which accounts for 88% of available EG.5 sequences, contains an additional spike protein mutation, Q52H. The F456L mutation appears to be especially important, Sato and others said. “F456L in particular has come up repeatedly in descendants of XBB.1.5 and may make it slightly less susceptible to antibodies in previously vaccinated and/or infected people,” Nicole Doria-Rose, PhD, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff scientist, said in an email. F456L may also be linked to transmissibility, noted Doria-Rose, who is chief of the Humoral Immunology Core at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center. Based on the current data, the WHO has classified EG.5′s antibody escape risk as moderate. The report cautioned, however, that the immune escape results are based on studies from a single laboratory using pseudotyped, not wild-type, viruses, and that additional experiments are needed to further assess how well EG.5 thwarts existing antibodies. It’s Unclear Whether It’s Driving the COVID Wave In the US, COVID-19 test positivity, wastewater levels, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths are all rising, based on CDC data through the first week of August. However, it’s unclear to what extent EG.5 could be driving the current wave. Sato said waning immunity from vaccinations and previous infections could be contributing. It’s also important to note that hospitalizations and deaths in the US are still drastically lower than this time last year. Carlos del Rio, MD, a distinguished professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said he’s “somewhat concerned” about current increase in hospitalizations, which he attributes mostly to XBB variants. “However,” he wrote in an email, “I also know if people are boosted, it is very unlikely they will end up hospitalized when infected.” There’s No Indication It’s More Severe So far there are no reports that EG.5 causes more severe COVID-19 cases, leading the WHO to classify its level of risk for severe disease as low. “Several countries with rising EG.5 prevalence have seen increases in cases and hospitalizations, although at present there is no evidence of an increase in disease severity directly associated with EG.5,” the report noted. Doria-Rose explained that EG.5 might be linked to the current increase in COVID-19 cases, and therefore hospitalizations, “based on its transmissibility, not its severity.” There are caveats to the WHO risk assessment, though. Global reporting of new hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions has fallen off substantially, so the WHO said it’s best to be cautious when interpreting the data on severe cases. And it said that more studies are needed to investigate the variant’s effect on clinical outcomes.