COVID-19 Cicada Variant Increasing in England, Children More Vulnerable to Infection

JAKARTA - The case of the cicada variant of COVID-19 is increasing in the UK region, and it is feared that more children will be attacked. Experts warn that this variant has a high ability to evade the immune system.

The cicada or BA.3.2 variant has about 75 mutations in the spike protein, which makes the virus able to enter the body's cells. This condition makes it easier to spread than previous variants.

"This is different from the virus (COVID0-19) that we have been dealing with for the past two years," said Professor Ravi Gupta of the University of Cambridge, quoted from the Mirror UK, on Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Professor Gupta said that this variant has been detected in the UK and the number is increasing. He also predicted that this variant could become dominant in the country.

Not only that, this variant also has indications of infecting children more often, especially for those who do not have immunity to COVID-19.

"Some people have done analyses on this which suggest it may be more common in young children," he said.

"Children are often infected, but this may have something to do with the fact that they have never received the COVID-19 vaccine," he added.

Professor Gupta also said that the problem is that this infection spreads quickly. In the end, the virus can attack a vulnerable person.

Experts suspect that mutations in the number of ebsar occur because the virus develops in the body of a patient with a weak immune system for a long time. For example, people with HIV or cancer patients, to children.