haxxiy on 24 October 2022
We still have to study it better but I'd wager the BQ lineage prevalent in the west is more fusogenic than XBB, being a BA.5 with even better spike processing instead of a BA.2.
It's uncertain, though, how that correlates to intrinsic severity. The Wuhan-type virus is more fusogenic than the 2003 SARS-CoV but >20 times less lethal, and BA.4/5 weren't more severe than BA.2 despite increased fusogenicity.
